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Choi Seungcheol was hot. Hot and popular. And nobody in Cheonguk University could ever dispute that.

In spite of his notoriety, however, he was far from being a walking, talking cliché just like the other jocks. Sure, he was a frat boy and captain of the football team, but he never let it all get to his head. He treated each student with the same kind of graciousness, the same amount of care. He greeted everyone who greeted him; smiled at anyone who smiled at him; and knew almost everyone’s name around the campus.

He was, as everyone deemed him, the people’s prince. The buff, dimpled, oh so gorgeous prince.

But if there was one thing that seemed cliché in Cheol’s charmed life, it was that he was in a relationship with the campus’ head cheerleader.

Speaking of, as Cheol hopped off his jeep—a hand-me-down from his father—his girlfriend Jiwon stalked toward him with intent. She looked as fantastic as she did before summer break—all curves, big tits and long, slender legs. She was wearing a tank top and a short skirt—an ensemble that should warrant a suspension from the guidance councilor. But, then again, Jiwon’s family were big stakeholders of the campus rendering Jiwon as somewhat untouchable.

Cheol smiled at her, his dimpled, million-watt smile, but the girl refused to return his expression.

“We need to talk,” she said as soon as she was face to face with Cheol.

“Hello to you, too,” Cheol began and tried to lean in to kiss her cheek but she dodged. Cheol raised an inquisitive brow. “Haven’t seen you all summer and this is how you welcome me?”

“Well, it’s better if I get to the point, you know.”

Cheol looked around and found that most of the other kids around the parking lot had stopped walking and were now discreetly watching them intently. Cheol turned back to Jiwon. “Is it serious?”

She nodded.

“Fine. Let’s take this somewhere else.”

“Sure. The garden would be fine,” she shrugged.

Cheol tried to grab Jiwon’s right hand and lead her to the garden but the girl pulled her hand away, instead she busied it by running it through her long hair. A move that drew everyone’s attention. Jiwon was hot and dangerous, even Cheol was acutely aware of it and had obviously fallen prey to it.

But now he observed that something was definitely wrong with Jiwon. He saw it in the way she chewed her lower lip as they walked alongside each other; saw it in the way her eyes darted from one student to the next.

When they arrived at the garden, Jiwon took a seat in one of the benches and tapped the space beside her. “Sit.”

And Cheol did so. “So, what is this very serious thing you wanted to talk about?”

“I met someone,” Jiwon said abruptly, no hesitation at all.

“What?” Cheol said plainly, feeling like a bucket of ice had been dumped over him.

“Over the summer,” she said. “In Incheon.”

“Sorry, what—” Cheol shook his head in disbelief. “What do you mean you met someone?”

Jiwon rolled her eyes as though explaining to Cheol was such a drag for her. “I mean, I’m dating someone now and it’s serious.”

“You’re dating me, Jiwon. What the hell are you talking about?” Cheol felt his hackles rise.

“Yes, I know. That’s why I’m breaking up with you.”

“What the fuck?!” Cheol’s mouth hung open in disbelief.

Jiwon reached over and cupped Cheol’s hands. “It’s okay, Cheol. I mean, it’s not like we’ll be going anywhere with our relationship—wait, did you think we were going anywhere?”

Cheol frowned deeply and pulled his hands away. “Obviously, I was! Why did you think I dated you? Just to pass the time?”

“Aww,” she cooed. “It’s cute that you thought we could’ve made it through college. I mean, we’d have to separate by graduation anyway, so why don’t I just break up with you now, right?”

Cheol couldn’t believe what he was hearing. For a moment he felt like his soul left his body and was now watching him from above. He felt detached but also somewhat grounded by a sudden surge of anger.

“This is insane, Jiwon. Insane and stupid.”

“Nope. It’s serious,” she insisted, a serious look on her face. “We even have matching tattoos. Do you wanna see?”

“I’ll pass,” Cheol gritted out. “So, who is he?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Jiwon’s expression visibly brightened. “He’s a surfer. He went on this popular reality show—you probably saw him before.”

“I probably haven’t. You know I don’t watch much TV.”

“Right. Anyway,” she sighed deeply and smiled. “I guess that’s all I have to tell you.”

“Jesus Christ, Jiwon…Are you serious about this?” Cheol didn’t bother to mask the annoyance in his voice. “You’re replacing me with a summer fling, really?”

Jiwon stood up and stretched her arms above her head, making her tank top hitch up her flat stomach. “It’s not just a summer fling. But, anyway, I don’t expect you to understand. Point is, we’re done.”

“This is ridiculous,” Cheol shook his head in disbelief.

“Bye, Cheol,” she leaned down to leave a kiss on Cheol’s cheek. “It’s been fun. And don’t worry I’ll still go to the seniors’ ball with you.”

And, just like that, Jiwon sauntered off across the grass and out of Cheol’s life.

Cheol looked around, suddenly self-aware of the stares of the other students who were, in no doubt, watching and listening to the whole fiasco that occurred there in the middle of the campus’ garden.

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The rest of the day was a blur of gossip and pitiful eyes directed at Cheol. The man tried to ignore it although he did feel sore from the breakup. Not exactly sore as in his heart had been torn into two, but more in the sense that he’d been played by Jiwon.

He was still a man with pride, after all.

Did he love Jiwon? The sudden thought occurred to Cheol. He missed her throughout summer but that was more of a craving for her presence. Her affections, however, Cheol had long grown accustomed to being limited when it came to him.

Did he really love Jiwon? Or was he going with what people expected of him: team captain loves the cheerleader—the perfect cliché.

The following day, as Cheol stepped out of his car and walked toward the school’s entrance, his friend Hyungjae came barrelling into him, an arm strewn across Cheol’s shoulders.

“What’s up, my man?” he began. “Heard you and Jiwon broke up again yesterday.”

“Again, huh?” Cheol replied drily.

“Well, you guys almost always break up anyway. I bet you’ll be back together again by tonight.”

“Nope. I don’t think so,” Cheol tried shrugging off his friend. “She’s dating someone else now. They apparently even have matching tattoos.”

“Yikes.”

“Yikes, indeed.”

They continued working along hallways toward the lecture hall, quiet for a few moments until Hyungjae decided to speak again. “You should do something about this, man.”

“What do you mean?” Cheol frowned at him.

“I mean, your whole image is at stake here. One minute you’re the hot team captain and the next minute you’re Choi Seungcheol bitch-boy.”

That made Cheol stop in his tracks. “You know what…who does she think she is?! There are hundreds of people in this school and I can date whoever I like!”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Hyungjae smirked.

“Kang Jiwon is replaceable!”

“Wait, hold on…Jiwon is basically a goddess in this school. Everyone wants to be her or fuck her.”

“Nah…” Cheol continued walking, Hyungjae trailing after him. “You see, the Jiwon you described is just an illusion. A fantasy. If you strip her out of her makeup and hairspray, she’s just a regular girl with a C-minus GPA.”

“Yeah, right…” Hyungjae sounded unconvinced.

“Take that girl for example,” Cheol pointed at a girl at the water fountain, struggling hard to hold her long, curly hair out of the way so she could drink properly.

Cheol continued, “Give that girl the right look, the right boyfriend, and bam! She’s the most famous girl on campus.”

Hyungjae tsked. “You’re serious?”

“For real,” Cheol looked at him seriously.

“You’re delusional…But fine. How about a chance to prove me wrong?”

“I can do just about anything, man. Just wait and see.”

They stopped at the archway of the lecture hall, sizing each other up. “I’ll let you prove it then, big man.”

“Is this a bet?”

“Yeah…unless, of course, you’re too brokenhearted.”

“Name your terms,” Cheol smirked. The kind of smirk that was both playful and dangerous. A look that matched his raging ego.

“Alright, it’s simple,” Hyungjae said. “I’ll pick the person and you have six weeks to turn them into the senior ball’s king or queen.”

Cheol gazed back at Hyungjae, never backing down to a challenge. “You got it.”

“Nice. Let’s go shopping for girls—”

“Or guys—”

“Or guys after the lecture.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!”

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Later, after class, instead of heading to the cafeteria, Cheol and Hyungjae strolled across the campus, in search of a prime target for the bet.

Oh, the poor oblivious souls.

“How about him?” Cheol pointed at a guy reading quietly on a bench in front of the literature building.

“Nah,” Hyungjae shook his head.

“How about her?” Cheol referred to a girl devouring a huge burger that barely fit her mouth.

“Now that could be exciting,” Hyungjae said. “But nah.”

“Then, how about him?” Cheol tilted his head toward a guy with shaggy hair but nice enough fashion sense.

“Nah. Too easy for you,” Hyungjae replied. But then a sudden movement caught his eyes. “How about that one?”

Cheol followed Hyungjae’s gaze which landed on a petite guy in a jumper that was covered with paint stains. He was juggling his art supplies in one arm and three rolls of canvas in his other arm. He had thick-rimmed glasses on and had his long hair in a messy ponytail.

Cheol looked in fascination. The guy appeared plain yet a tad bit idiosyncratic—as most art students were, Cheol supposed. Cheol continued to stare at the guy’s face—his high nose, his thin pink lips, his soft cheeks that were tinted with a bit of paint. He was adorable at best.

Just when Cheol was about to open his mouth, art guy lost balance and tripped on his own foot, sending art supplies and canvases all over the ground.

“Shit! Fuck!” he hissed to himself but loud enough for Cheol and Hyungjae to hear.

“Looks like we have a winner,” Hyungjae said and patted Cheol on the back.

“With Yoon Jeonghan? No, no, no!” Cheol spat abruptly. Somehow, something deep inside him screamed not to involve the cute art guy in any of their gimmicks.

“Hey, a bet’s a bet!” Hyungjae screeched.

“Look, weird, flat chested, bad personality—I can handle,” Cheol pleaded. “But scary and inaccessible is another story!”

Hyungjae laughed as they watched Jeonghan pick up his materials, which Cheol thought was mean. But, then again, if he rushed forward to help the guy, then Hyungjae would definitely decide that Jeonghan was the prey in their little game.

“If I were you, man,” Hyungjae said between laughter. “I wouldn’t be wasting my time. You now have six weeks to make that weirdo into the ball’s king.”

“This is unbelievable!”

“You’re the one who said you could turn anyone popular! Now it’s time for you to prove it!”

Cheol sighed and gazed once more at Jeonghan who had already picked up his materials, hiking them up in his arms. “Fine. But know that I’m busting your balls for this.”

And with that, Cheol squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and approached Jeonghan.

“Hey,” he said once he was close enough. “Need help with your stuff?”

Jeonghan looked back at him, his face devoid of any expression. “No, thank you.”

Jeonghan began to walk away but Cheol called after him. “Jeonghan, do you have a second?”

“What is it?” Jeonghan said plainly.

“I was wondering if you could go with me to—”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes and continued walking away, leaving Cheol mid-sentence.

“Wow…he really embarrassed me in front of everyone,” Cheol muttered to himself. From a distance, Hyungjae was clutching his stomach, totally finding the whole ordeal hilarious.

And thus began Cheol’s challenge to turn a mousy little art student who nobody barely knew into the hottest, most sought-after boy in Cheonguk University.

Oh, this was bound to be so much fun.

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“So how’s it going with Jiwon?” Boo Seungkwan asked as soon as his half brother, Seungcheol, walked into the foyer of their huge house in the middle of Seoul.

“News travels quickly, huh?” Cheol said, shrugging off his backpack and heading for the couch.

“It’s hard not to. Besides, you’re both the rulers of Cheonguk.”

“Well…she replaced me with a surfer dude who’s apparently a celebrity,” Cheol said as heavily dropped his butt on the cushions.

Seungkwan, likewise, sat himself on the loveseat just across from Cheol. “Park Sungjoon is an ass, by the way, if that’s any consolation.”

“You know him?”

“Of course! He’s the weird, disgusting guy who got evicted on his first week on Big Brother.”

“And yet he’s hot enough for my girlfriend—”

“Ex-girlfriend. And don’t feel too bad, hyung. You’re a bajillion times better than him.”

Cheol breathed out heavily, letting some of the tension of the day leave his body. “Thanks, Kwannie.”

“So…” Seungkwan began again. “Who’s the lucky rebound skank?”

Cheol frowned. “Rebound skank?”

“Well, you know, there’s gotta be somebody, right?”

“Hmm…I wouldn’t call it somebody but there’s this sort of project.”

“A project?”

“Yeah. And to tell you the truth he kind of blew me off.”

Seungkwan’s pretty grin was wide. “I like him already!”

Cheol shrugged. “Well, the only thing I can figure out is that it’s gotta be some kind of mistake.”

“Well, hyung…” Seungkwan got up from his seat and stretched. “I know it’s hard for a bitch magnet like you to understand but did it ever occur to you that you need to make a little effort?”

“Effort?” Cheol arched a brow.

“Yeah…Like maybe go after him or something. Woo him.”

“I never wooed anyone before.”

“There’s a first time in everything, you self-centered hoe.”

“Hey—”

“All I’m saying is, not everyone is susceptible to your charms. There are normal people out there.”

“O…kay…”

Seungkwan began making his way to the kitchen but before he could disappear, he turned back to his older brother. “Find out where he hangs out. Find out what he likes. Got it?”

“Uh…sure. Thanks, I guess.”

And with that, Seungkwan turned to the kitchen to make himself some freshly squeezed orange juice.

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“Seungcheol!”

Cheol heard his father’s voice as he passed by the man’s study on his way to his bedroom.

“Get in here, son.”

And Cheol did. “Hey, dad. What’s up?”

Mr. Choi looked up from the pile of papers on his desk. “Have you gotten word back from any of the companies you sent applications to?”

Cheol chewed on the inside of his cheek subtly. “No, dad. No response at all.”

“Have you tried reaching out to them? Email them again, maybe?”

“I’ve, uh, tried that.”

Mr. Choi took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You haven’t gotten word from Kim Architects and Associates yet? Don’t you find that unusual at this point of the year?”

“Not really, sir…”

“Huh.” Mr. Choi fixed his with a serious glance. “Maybe it’s time I called Director Kim. I owe him a call anyway.”

“There’s no need for connections, dad—”

“I insist. It’s best that you start planning what you’re going to do. Graduation’s just around the corner.”

“Dad,” Cheol insisted. “Just give it a couple more days. I’ll probably hear something from them.”

Mr. Choi frowned at Cheol silently, a shiver running down Cheol’s spine. Cheol gulped, hoping for his father to let him go.

“Fine,” Mr. Choi said with conviction. “I’ll give it until the end of the week. Otherwise, I’m calling the compadre.”

“Sure, dad,” Cheol said abruptly. “Can I go now?”

Mr. Choi said nothing more. He merely nodded his head and waved a hand to send his son away.

Cheol, thankful to be away from his father’s scrutinizing eyes, released a sigh he didn’t know he was holding as he made his way to his room.

Once there, he closed the door and quietly approached his desk where acceptance letters from the architecture firms he applied to were hidden in a single folder—away from his father’s prying eyes.

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“Okay, sir. Let me repeat your order…” Jeonghan said, holding a small notepad and a pen as he faced a customer. “That would be one chicken marsala, one aglio e olio and one bottle of our ‘94 red wine.”

The customer nodded his agreement and Jeonghan turned away, purposefully heading for the kitchen to make the orders.

As he made it to the kitchen doors, however, someone tapped on his shoulder.

“Hi,” Choi Seungcheol said with his million-watt smile. “Got a minute?”

Jeonghan narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t get a hold of you at school so I asked around and they told me you worked at Fred’s.”

“Again, what are you doing here?”

Cheol smiled deeper, brandishing his charming dimples, a look that definitely broke hearts. “Just wanted to talk to you, that’s all.”

“Well, as you can see, I’m working.”

Jeonghan turned away and continued his way to the kitchen.

“Come on, Jeonghan—”

“Stalking is illegal, I hope you know that.”

Cheol persisted on walking behind Jeonghan. “Isn’t your break coming up?”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes and opened the heavy double doors. “One chicken marsala, one aglio e olio for table five!” he yelled at the cooks. Then, with a glower, he turned back to Cheol. “How do you even know that?”

Cheol shrugged. “I have my ways.”

“Right. Being the campus king and all.”

“Anyway, about that thing I wanted to talk to you about—”

“Look,” Jeonghan fixed him with a glare head-on. “I’m not smart.”

“What—”

“I can’t tutor you. I’m bad at acads. Art is the only thing I can teach you.”

“Wait,” Cheol laughed airily. “I have a stellar GPA. I’m not looking for a tutor.”

“Then why are you here?” Jeonghan ambled for the staff room, eager to finally have his break. “Is there some kind of dork outreach program now, is that it?”

“No, no—” Cheol trailed after him. “Wait, are you always like this? Hard to be around?”

“Yes,” Jeonghan turned around way too abruptly that Cheol bumped into him. Before Jeonghan could fall backward, Cheol grabbed him by the waist to keep him upright.

“Just five minutes, Jeonghan. That’s all I ask.”

Jeonghan stared back at Cheol’s eyes and long lashes. Somehow he got it—the reason why boys and girls fawned after Cheol. He had beautiful eyes, a charming smile and a tender voice to boot.

He jumped out of Cheol’s arms like he touched something hot.

“Five seconds,” he said.

“Okay, great!” Cheol replied. “I just wanted to talk to you about…” he racked his brain for any reason at all to stay close to Jeonghan. He looked down at the boy’s paint-stained Chucks and blurted out the first things he could think of. “...Art!”

“Art?” Jeonghan cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah…It’s, uh, interesting. And you’re one of the most artistic students at school.”

“You don’t even take art classes. How come I never see you in any of my classes if you’re into art?”

“Well—well, I’m busy with sports and stuff so never got around to—”

“Independent studies?”

“Yeah…those…”

Jeonghan fixed Cheol with a serious look, trying to fathom what the campus king really wanted from him.

“But listen,” Cheol said. “I saw some of your artwork in class and you’re really, really good. So, any kind of help you could give me, I’ll appreciate it.”

Jeonghan shook his head, averting his eyes. Then, with a small voice, he said, “Sure…I guess some other time…”

“How about tonight?”

“What?”

“Isn’t there a show at the gallery beside Cheonguk? I saw the flyers and posters around school.”

“You did?”

“Yeah…do you want to go together?” Cheol offered a sincere simple.

“I’d definitely be there,” Jeonghan replied. “I’m performing.”

“Oh,” Cheol’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “That’s great, then! I’ll definitely be there to watch!”

Jeonghan weighed his options. He was, undoubtedly, suspicious about Cheol being interested in his art all of a sudden; but he also couldn’t deny the interest boiling inside of him. Besides, when the campus’ best looking guy was stalking him, he was bound to be a tad bit curious.

He sighed. “Okay. Here’s the deal. The show starts at seven and parking’s going to be a problem. Don’t be late.”

“Seven it is,” Cheol beamed. “I can’t wait to watch you.”

“Now get out of the staff room,” Jeonghan shoved Cheol’s chest, pushing him out of the room, and shut the door in his face.

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Cheol was in front of the theater at around six-forty-five and immediately he felt out of place. Everyone who stepped inside the gallery and hung out in front of it wore clothes that were eccentric, totally out of the ordinary, unapologetically artistic. He, on the other hand, wore his usual letterman jacket. A jock in the sea of artsy kids.

Still, he knew he had to do this if he wanted Jeonghan’s attention and interest.

And thus, squaring his shoulders, he stepped inside the gallery and found a seat that was as close to the stage as possible—Jeonghan did say he was to perform, so he had to find a seat where the boy could spot him easily.

The show began at seven sharp. The room was enveloped in a blue light as the spotlight shone on the center of the small stage. A man wearing nothing brief made of paper emerged from behind the stage followed by four other backup artists with their faces painted in blue.

Ah, there was Jeonghan—looking so much like a character from the film Avatar, but still weirdly pretty if Cheol was being honest.

The show went on, with the man reciting lines from a vaguely structured poem while the backup performers hummed an equally vague song.

Was Cheol weirded out? Yes. Was he fascinated? Also, yes.

He looked around the gallery, trying to see if anyone else had the same reaction as he did. That’s when the man sitting next to him nudged him.

“That’s Minyoung,” he hissed. “Isn’t he tantalizing?”

“Uh…” Cheol wanted to come up with an intelligent answer but instead all he came up with was “Sure.”

Soon the performance ended and the crowd erupted in cheers.

That’s a good sign, right? Cheol thought, feeling at a loss. They did well, right?

Jeonghan and the rest of the performance lined up and bowed before scrambling to the backstage as the new set of performers were setting up on the stage.

As Cheol planned on sneaking into the backstage to get a hold of Jeonghan, the man in the makeshift underwear appeared on stage again and demanded everyone's attention.

“Friends,” he said. “I was made aware that we have a new member of the art world here tonight. Is there a Choi Seungcheol in the crowd? Choi Seungcheol, please come up onstage.”

What…the…fuck…

“Come on, friend. Let this be your welcome.”

Jeonghan peeped out of the curtains and pointed at Cheol and mouthed “Go on!”

Looking around, Cheol found everyone looking right at him, expectation in their eyes. He once again spared a glance at Jeonghan who had his eyebrows raised as if to say, “Well?!”

Ergo, with nowhere else to go, with nothing else to do, Cheol got up from his seat and made his way to the middle of the stage.

Polite applause came from the crowd as Cheol thought very quickly about what to say. This is a disaster.

“Hi,” he began. “I’m Seungcheol and I, uh, came here to check out the art.”

“As we all do,” the diaper man quipped from the side, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

“Yeah…I kind of got that…but, uh, I came for something else. Someone special.”

Someone in the crowd whistled.

“It’s the first time I saw him perform and I gotta say, he’s amazing. Tantalizing.”

“Minyoung is amazing!” Cheol’s previous seatmate piped up.

“No. I mean, yes…sure,” Cheol blurted out. “But I actually came for Yoon Jeonghan.”

“Oooh…” the crowd said in unison.

“He’s, uh, great at what he does and seeing him tonight only proved to me that he can do a whole lot more than just painting and stuff.”

Cheol looked back at Jeonghan who was still peeping from the curtain. “You’re amazing. I don’t have enough words to express it.”

Jeonghan looked right back at him, expressionless.

“Well, are you going to date him or what?” someone from the far end of the seats yelled.

Cheol whipped his head toward the voice. “Well…I’m hoping to…”

Another round of Oohs and Ahs came from the crowd along with a round of applause.

“Interesting,” diaper man said, joining Cheol in the middle of the stage. “Well, I hope you get your answer tonight.”

Cheol smiled in return. “Thanks.”

“Everyone, give it up again for Choi Seungcheol!”

And with that, Cheol bowed to the crowd and ambled for the curtains where he was planning on ambushing Jeonghan.

“Oh, man,” Cheol said as soon as he was in front of Jeonghan at the backstage. “I can’t believe I just said all that.”

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I was a little surprised,” Jeonghan replied.

“Tell me, how much did I suck?”

“You were alright. Except for the part where you were planning to ask me out.”

“Oh, come on! I was telling the truth!”

“I thought you just wanted to see art?”

“Well,” Cheol fixed Jeonghan with a serious look. “Seeing how good you were at performing made me think of asking you out on a date.”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “Bullshit.”

“I’m for real!”

Jeonghan sighed, turning away from Cheol toward the dressing room. Cheol trailed behind him.

“Fine,” Jeonghan said. “You sucked. A lot. You feel better now?”

Cheol chuckled. “I don’t care.”

When they made it to the dressing room, Jeonghan immediately went through the motions of removing his blue face paint. Cheol, meanwhile, quietly seated himself on the chair next to him. When Jeonghan’s face was devoid of paint, he grabbed his thick-rimmed glasses from his bag and put them on.

“What?” he asked Cheol through the vanity mirror.

“Do you always wear those glasses?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“No reason,” Cheol replied. Then, after a while, he said again, “Do you ever think about getting contacts?”

“I have them. But I just never wear them. I don’t know, just the idea of touching my eyes is—”

“Your eyes are really beautiful,” Cheol said point blanc.

Jeonghan looked back at him for a few seconds too long before he scoffed. “Oh, please, Seungcheol!”

“What?”

“‘Your eyes are really beautiful’?” Jeonghan laughed. “You really broke out the big guns with that one, huh?”

“Jeonghan, I was just telling the truth—”

“Nah. I had an instinct about your intentions. I went against it. So now this is my fault.”

“What—Jeonghan, I’m not following.”

Jeonghan got up from his seat, grabbed his bag and made for the door, leaving Cheol dumbfounded.

When Jeonghan stood at the archway of the dressing room, he turned back to Cheol, his face lacking expression. “You want to know about art? When the campus king starts touching my face in the backstage and starts talking about my eyes, there’s a word for it. Surreal.”

“Jeonghan, wait! Can we just talk—”

“I got to go. I’m catching a ride with Minyoung hyung.”

“The underwear guy?!”

And just like that, Jeonghan turned the corner and left Cheol dumbfounded in the dressing room.

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A few days later, Cheol drove right to Jeonghan’s house to possibly try again.

As he pulled up in front of the intended home, he got out and strode toward the man standing in front of his own car in the driveway.

“Sir?” Cheol began. The man wore casual clothes, giving Cheol the vibe that he was possibly Jeonghan’s father. He had to shoot his shot. “By chance, is Jeonghan here today?”

The man looked up at him. “Yes. Why? Are you a friend of my son?”

Ah, Cheol was right.

“I’m a schoolmate. I just wanted to talk to him about a few things.”

“He’s busy making lunch. You gotta wait until he finishes.”

“I see…” Cheol looked around the driveway, racking his brain for ways to make conversation while he waited for Jeonghan.

“Your car looks nice, sir,” he said.

“Thanks,” Mr. Yoon shrugged. “It gets me to people with pools that need cleaning.”

“Ah, you clean pools?” Only then did Cheol notice the logo on the driver’s side door. Yoon cleaning and maintenance.

“Yep. I clean drains and stuff.”

“Sounds like some serious job.”

Mr. Yoon shrugged once more. “It sends my kids to school and pays enough for the bills.”

“Dad!” someone yelled from the open door of the house. “Oppa says lunch is ready—Oh, wow…”

A girl, around the age of fifteen, stepped out of the house and jogged the shirt distance to where Cheol and Mr. Yoon stood. “Choi Seungcheol, is that really you?”

“Hi,” Cheol smiled easily. “It’s really me, yeah…Do I know you?”

“You probably don’t know me but everyone at my high school knows you! You’re a legend, sunbaenim!”

Cheol chuckled lowly. “Uh, thanks?”

“I’m Soobin, by the way!”

“Great to meet you, Soobin.”

“Dad! Soobinie! Time for lunch!” Jeonghan suddenly appeared at the door, wearing a cute pink apron and holding a spatula in one hand. And that’s when he spotted Cheol. “Ah, great. You gotta stop stalking me, you know.”

Soobin looked between Cheol and Jeonghan. “Wait,” she told Cheol. “Are you here for Jeonghan oppa?”

“Uh, yeah…” Cheol scratched his cheek with a finger, feeling thrown in the spotlight all of a sudden.

“Oh, my God! Are you gonna ask him on a date? Oh, my God! A school legend asking my weird brother out! This is like a fairytale!” Soobin rushed out, leaving no chance for Cheol to dispute her.

“Soobin!” Jeonghan yelled. “Stop speculating and help me set up the table!”

“Go help your brother, Soobinie,” Mr. Yoon finally said. And then to Cheol, “Why don’t you join us for lunch, Seungcheol? I’m sure Jeonghan cooked enough for us.”

“Uh, I don’t want to overstep, sir—”

“Nonsense!” Soobin piped up. “Have lunch with us, I’ll take care of Jeonghan oppa!”

Cheol looked between the two and then at Jeonghan who rolled his eyes behind his thick glasses. “Well…if it’s not too much, I’d like to join you.”

“Yay!! We’re having lunch with the Choi Seungcheol!” Soobin declared, her chest swelling with pride.

“Get in here and help!” Jeonghan yelled before disappearing into the house.

Lunch was a casual affair that didn’t leave any room for Cheol to feel awkward—greatly thanks to Soobin excitedly talking about school and the legacy that Cheol left behind. Soobin was, surprisingly, a great conversationalist unlike her aloof older brother. Cheol found that Soobin was a charming and lively kid—a joy to be around.

When lunch was through, Jeonghan and Cheol began cleaning up the table as Soobin made an excuse to avoid washing the dishes. And to possibly leave Jeonghan and Cheol alone together.

As Jeonghan placed the dishes on the sink in the kitchen, he turned back to Cheol with a scowl. “You can’t just keep showing up like this, you know.”

“And you can’t keep avoiding me. Just like that night. What was that, huh?”

Jeonghan sighed heavily. “I was busy!”

“Right…just say you’re avoiding me.”

“I was not avoiding you!”

Cheol leaned in and Jeonghan had to fight the urge to count his long lashes. “Yes, you were, Jeonghan.”

Jeonghan gulped, willing his voice not to break. “No…I wasn’t…”

Cheol smiled and then leaned away. “Whatever. Anyway, wanna go to the beach?”

“What? No!”

“What, you hate the beach?”

“Yes!”

“Liar.”

“Fine, I don’t. I just don’t have time for this,” Jeonghan motioned between himself and Cheol. “You should leave.”

“Nope.”

“What do you mean ‘nope’?”

Cheol smiled impishly and with his whole chest he yelled for the whole house to hear, “Hey, Soobin! How about I take you up on your offer to play Just Dance?”

“What the heck are you doing?” Jeonghan hissed.

“What? I’m just trying to play with your sister.”

“No, you won’t!”

“Well, I believe I was invited,” Cheol shrugged nonchalantly, his winning smile plastered on his face.

“I’m uninviting you.”

“Hey!” Soobin yelled as she ran into the kitchen. “You’re not the boss of him!”

“Soobinie has a point,” Cheol cocked a brow. “Yep, looks like we’ll spend a loooong afternoon of Just Dance.”

Jeonghan narrowed his eyes at Cheol, trying hard to stand against his threat. But, alas, he stood no chance. It was either the beach or a day with Cheol hanging out around their house.

“Fine,” Jeonghan gritted out. “I’ll get my swimming shorts.” And then he walked past Cheol, making sure to bump his shoulder aggressively.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“The clouds are out and it’s a bright day,” Cheol announced excitedly as he pulled up at the parking lot just across the beach. “Great day for swimming!”

“I’m not swimming. I’m here to draw,” Jeonghan protested from the passenger seat, his frown deep.

“Come on. Don’t be such a party pooper! At least pretend that you’re enjoying this with me!”

Jeonghan tsked. “Do you know how many gallons of chemicals are dumped into the oceans each year?”

Cheol shook his head slowly.

“Of course, you wouldn’t know.”

Cheol scoffed, opening his door and jogging around the front off his jeep to Jeonghan’s side. He opened the car door for him. “Hey, Jeonghan,” he said. “Don’t you ever just kick back?”

Jeonghan lifted a brow.

“I mean,” Cheol continued. “I know the world has its problems, but would it hurt you to smile once in a while?”

“I smile a lot,” Jeonghan spat. “It’s just that you mentioned the ocean and I remembered this news I saw on SBS—”

“Forget SBS!”

“Hey, Cheol!” someone from across the parking lot yelled. “What’s up, my guy?”

Hyungjae, along with a band of popular kids from campus made their way to the pair.

“Ah, great,” Cheol sighed. Quietly, he murmured to Jeonghan. “Listen, if we’re gonna be friends, you’ll have to deal with them sooner or later, okay?”

“What do you mean friends?”

Cheol looked back at Jeonghan who gave him a blank expression. Cheol sighed once more as he coaxed Jeonghan out of the car. “Come on.”

As soon as they were close enough to Cheol and Jeonghan, Hyungjae went in for a fist bump. “Yo, I called your house and your mom said you were at the beach so we thought why not hang out here, too!”

Then, Hyungjae turned to Jeonghan conspiratorially. “You know, many a man and woman lost it here.”

Jeonghan blinked. “It?”

“You know, virginity—”

“Alright, quit it,” Cheol cut in. “Jeonghan and I are just here to…make art.”

Hyungjae and the rest of the band scoffed and laughed out loud.

“Right,” Hyungjae said. “We’ll leave you guys to it.”

“Hey, Jeonghan. It is Jeonghan, right?” a girl said from beside Hyungjae—Jeonghan knew her from one of his literature classes as Juli. She was pretty in a dangerous kind of way, and the smile on her red-tinted lips told Jeonghan that he should not mess with her in any way.

“Wanna hang with the girls while the other boys play volleyball?” she said again.

“Uh…sure…why not,” Jeonghan replied with uncertainty.

“That’s settled, then!” Hyungjae announced. “Now, Cheol, help us get the rest of the stuff from the car!”

“Yeah,” Cheol replied, sparing a glance at Jeonghan as if to say, “Will you be okay?”

Jeonghan nodded with a tight smile.

As Cheol walked away with the guys, Juli took Jeonghan’s arm and led him to their usual spot alongside the beach.

Unlike the skimpy outfits the girls were wearing, Jeonghan chose to show up in board shorts and a floral-printed shirt—evidence that he had no plan at all to get soaked, much less to bathe in the ocean.

Once settled on one of the beach towels the girls brought, Jeonghan pulled out his sketchbook and pencil from his backpack.

“So…” Juli sing-songed beside Jeonghan. “You girls think the mourning period’s over yet?”

“Oh, please! It’s way over!” another girl said, slipping on her sunglasses.

“Mourning period?” Jeonghan asked out of genuine curiosity.

“Yeah. Without Jiwon, Cheol is available now,” the girl said.

“Yeah. But what’s the deal with you two?” Juli turned to Jeonghan. “Are you two on a date?”

Jeonghan shook his head vehemently. “No, we’re just—”

“Friends?” the girls said in unison and then laughed mockingly, the sound like nails to a blackboard for Jeonghan.

Jeonghan chose to ignore their condescending tone and went about opening his sketchbook to begin drawing the scene before him.

Meanwhile, Cheol and the other boys came to the beach, each bringing things from Hyungjae’s car.

Cheol stopped in his tracks as he saw Jeonghan focused on his sketchbook, scribbling away with intent. Then, as though his hair was getting in the way of his drawing, Jeonghan reached up and tied it in a low bun, the slope of his nape looking dainty and smooth in the sun.

“Hey,” Hyungjae said, suddenly beside Cheol. “Super freak’s kinda pretty, isn’t he? From out here he seems almost normal.”

Cheol frowned at the comment but decided to ignore it for now.

“So!” Hyungjae chirped as they approached the girls. “Is this all you guys are planning to do today? Sunbathe?”

“Yes,” Juli said, shooing Hyungjae with a perfectly manicured hand.

“Come on, let’s play some volley!”

“No, thanks.”

Hyungjae hummed, directing his eyes at Jeonghan. “How about you, Jeonghan?”

“Nope,he’s not gonna play,” Juli replied. “Sorry,” she glanced at Jeonghan. “It’s just that I’ve seen you in gym class and you run like a girl.”

“Do I?” Jeonghan replied plainly.

“Oh, you know what I mean!” Juli laughed, much to Jeonghan’s chagrin.

“So, are you in or out?” Hyungjae asked Jeonghan again.

Taking offense at Juli’s observation of his physicality, Jeonghan shut his sketchbook and set it on the sand with intent. Then, he got up from the beach towel and faced Hyungjae head-on. “I’m in.”

“Ah, that’s what I’m talking about!”

Juli rolled her eyes behind her bumblebee-like sunglasses.

“You know what,” the other girl said as she looked at Jeonghan. “I’ll play, too.”

Thus they made their way to the makeshift net that the boys set up, leaving Juli sunbathing by herself.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

The game was more fun than Jeonghan could ever expect. Cheol’s friends were, surprisingly, fun to be with. For the most part.

The game ended with Cheol and Jeonghan’s team losing, yet the rush sent tiny butterflies in Jeonghan’s belly. He never had as much fun with so many people around him before. This was, indeed, something new.

“So, Cheol,” Hyungjae piped up. “You going to my house tonight?”

“Uh, sure,” Cheol said, walking alongside Jeonghan to the parking lot.

“What about you, Jeonghan?” Hyungjae threw an arm around Jeonghan’s shoulder.

Jeonghan bit his lip. “I’m not sure about that—”

“Oh, come on!” Hyungjae wailed. “My parties are the best. You can ask around campus! So, what do you say?”

The group looked at Jeonghan in unison, anticipating what his answer would be. Jeonghan felt the pressure but, then again, the rush of the game still creeped inside him, making his veins stir with adrenaline, and he would be damned if he said no.

“Uh…sure,” he announced meekly, and the group erupted in whoops and cheers.

“Great! We’ll see you guys later!” Hyungjae patted Jeonghan and Cheol on the back and walked away with the rest of the group to their respective cars.

“Oh, my God!” Juli said as they walked away. “Jiwon is gonna shit bricks when she sees Cheol with Jeonghan!”

“Will you shut up?” Hyungjae chastised.

Cheol and Jeonghan watched each car pull out of the parking lot, letting the last rays of the sunset bathe them.

“Well,” Cheol said when the last car turned on the curb. “We survived, right?”

“Barely.”

Cheol smiled, motioning for Jeonghan to walk toward his car.

“So, about Hyungjae’s party tonight,” he said once they were safely seated in the jeep.

“I can’t.” Jeonghan heaved a heavy sigh.

“But you just said—”

“I know. I just…” Jeonghan licked his lips, finding them a bit dry. Cheol’s eyes followed the motion. “I just, uh, forgot I have to clean the house. It’s really dirty…uh, almost unlivable.”

Cheol shook his head. “You’re lying.”

“It’s the truth!”

“Mm-hmm…right…sorry to hear that.”

For a while they just sat there in the parking lot, listening to the sound of waves crashing against each other and seagulls chirping as they flew along the beach.

Jeonghan decided to break the silence first. “Are you gonna take me home or should I start walking?”

“Oh, right. Driving you home, right.”

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“Oppa!” Soobin said as soon as she opened the front door for Jeonghan and Cheol. “How did your beach date go?”

“It wasn’t a date!” Jeonghan pushed past his sister.

“It kind of was,” Cheol chuckled from behind him.

Soobin, meanwhile, squealed. “You gotta tell me all about it!”

Jeonghan chose to ignore his sister. “Cheol, thanks for taking me home.”

Cheol grinned at him from the archway. “You sure you don’t wanna go to Hyungjae’s party?”

“Nope. I’m good. Bye.”

“Alright. Bye,” Cheol said before Jeonghan closed the door.

When Jeonghan turned back to the foyer, he found Soobin squinting her eyes at him. “What party?”

“I’m not talking about this with you.”

“But you have to! What party?!”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes, ambling to the kitchen for a glass of water. Soobin trailed after him. “It’s just Cheol’s friend’s party. Just that.”

“And they invited you?! You never get invited to these things!”

“That’s why I’m not going. They aren’t my type of crowd, Soobin!”

“But there’s a first time for everything!”

Jeonghan glared at his sister. “I’m not going. I already told Cheol I have stuff to do around here.”

“Oppa,” Soobin grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Sitting around here with me and dad while he watches reruns of baseball games hardly qualifies as stuff to do!”

Jeonghan sighed. “You know me too well.”

“You know what…I think you’re just afraid of letting anything good happen to you.”

“Are you sure you’re just fifteen years old?”

Soobin grinned, wide and bright. “I just know what’s best for you.”

Jeonghan patted her on the head before turning back to his task of fetching water from the fridge.

Soobin stood in the middle of the kitchen, the dingy light bathing her. “Also, did it ever occur to you that maybe Cheol oppa really likes you?”

Jeonghan finished gulping down water before replying. “Trust me, he doesn’t.”

Then, there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Jeonghan said, placing the used glass on the sink.

He made his way to the door, opened it and was surprised to see Cheol standing on the other side.

“What are you still doing here?”

“Cheol oppa!” Soobin quipped from behind Jeonghan.

Cheol waved at her then looked at Jeonghan seriously. “I believe you said you were cleaning the house?”

“I will be,” Jeonghan replied.

“Then, let me help you out.”

“What?”

“It’s still 6 PM. I’ll help you out so you can go to Hyungjae’s party by 10 PM.”

“Oh, goodie!” Soobin cheered. “I’ll help, too!”

Cheol grinned at her and then at Jeonghan, dimples and all. “What do you say, let’s get to it?”

“You’re impossible!”

Cheol shook his head and pushed past Jeonghan at the door. “Nope. I’m amazing.”

“I’ll get the kitchen!” Soobin clapped her hands in glee.

“I’ll get the bathroom, then,” Cheol announced.

“Wait!” Jeonghan closed the door with a slam. “I really can’t go! I mean…you look great and I have nothing to wear!”

“Not a problem. I called my brother. He’ll be your mini glam team.”

“Oh, God!”

“Get to cleaning the living room, Jeonghan! We gotta leave by 10!”

And thus the three began cleaning around the house—which, if Cheol was being honest, didn’t look like it needed cleaning at all. Still, the campus king went about scrubbing around the main bathroom until the tiles glistened.

By 9 PM there came a knock on the front door and Cheol opened it to the sight of Seungkwan. His little brother raised his hands to show a makeup bag and a pink silk shirt wrapped in plastic. “The glam team is here.”

Jeonghan peeked from over Cheol’s shoulder and was taken aback.

“Hi,” Seungkwan beamed at him. “You must be Jeonghan. I’m here to make you hot.”

“Oh, God…” was the only thing Jeonghan could say before Seungkwan barged into his house and dragged him upstairs to his bedroom.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“Ow!” Jeonghan yelped as Seungkwan plucked another hair from his brows.

“Jeonghan hyung, no offense, but when was the last time you tweezed?”

“N–never…why?”

“Well, did you ever watch Sesame Street when you were little? Your brows look like Bert’s.”

“Hey, my brows are just fine—ow!!”

“Hold still, hyung! I’m trying to make you pretty—well, prettier.”

“I can’t hold still when it hurts!”

“Breathe through it!”

When Seungkwan was done torturing Jeonghan’s eyebrows, he turned to his makeup bag and began pulling out creams and powders.

“Have you never really worn makeup, hyung?”

Jeonghan shook his head. “My mom died before I was old enough for this stuff.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago. Soobin was practically a baby.”

“You’re so brave and responsible, hyung.”

“Thank you…”

“Well,” Seungkwan set down the makeup on Jeonghan’s bed. “I think we should first get into fixing your hair. It’s gotten too long hasn’t it? Maybe chop it off a little.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. We’ll make it more flattering around your face.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“I have an idea…just trust me, hyung,” Seungkwan smirked and Jeonghan wasn’t sure whether he should be nervous or excited about what was to come next.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

By 10 PM, Seungkwan descended the stairs and onto the living room where Cheol and Soobin were waiting for Jeonghan to show up, having finished their respective tasks around the house.

“Lady and gentleman,” Seungkwan announced. “I now present to you the new—not improved but different— Yoon Jeonghan.”

Cheol got up from the couch and anticipated Jeonghan’s descent.

And he was not let down.

Jeonghan stepped down the stairs slowly, in the heeled shoes Seungkwan lent him. Slowly, he appeared before Cheol until the man could completely see his face.

Soon, there Jeonghan stood at the foot of the staircase, with his shiny hair chopped to his shoulders, his eyes shimmering with eyeshadow and his lips pink and luscious. He was devoid of his usual glasses, replaced this time by his contact lenses.

The pink shirt Seungkwan also lent him hugged his figure just right, a far cry from his usual baggy and tattered clothes.

Jeonghan looked immaculate. Like someone pulled straight out of Cheol’s fever dream.

Jeonghan was perfect from head to toe.

That is, until he stepped closer to Cheol and lost his balance.

Quickly, like it was instinctual, Cheol reached over and grabbed Jeonghan’s arms to steady him.

“Wow,” Cheol murmured. “You look…”

“Weird?” Jeonghan said. “Silly?”

“Breathtaking,” Cheol said with all honesty.

“Uh…thanks.”

Soobin squealed from behind. “You’re a genius, Seungkwan oppa!”

Seungkwan winked at her and then cleared his throat. “Well, you guys better get to the party before it’s too late.”

“Right, the party…” Jeonghan steadied himself.

From his own seat in the living room, Mr. Yoon clipped, “Seungcheol, get my son home before 1 AM, you hear?”

“Yes, sir,” Cheol replied. “Will bring him home in one piece.”

Mr. Yoon waved them away and turned back to the baseball game he was watching.

“You ready?” Cheol asked Jeonghan.

“Yeah.”

“Drive safely, you two!” Soobin said as she vibrated with excitement as though she was the one attending the party.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

When they arrived at Hyungjae’s house, the party was already in full swing—most of the attendees were already drunk and grinding against each other in the living room which served as the dance floor.

Cheol led Jeonghan to the backyard where a large pool was situated.

“Hey!” Hyungjae said as soon as he spotted the two. “Cheol! Jeonghan! Welcome to the party that never ends! Or at least until my parents get back from Incheon!”

He handed them both plastic cups of what appeared to be beer.

Jeonghan looked around the place littered with hormonal young adults flirting and making out beside the pool. “Who are all these people?”

“I have no idea,” Hyungjae shrugged. “Point is, we’re all having fun!”

“Right.” Jeonghan brought the cup to his lips but Cheol stopped him with a hand around his wrist. Cheol shook his head.

“Yo, I’m gonna check on you in a second, alright? Have a good time around here,” Hyungjae said and disappeared into the throng of people.

Realizing that he’d been holding Jeonghan’s wrist for too long, Cheol suddenly let it go like it the touch had burned him. Then, without preamble, he took the cup from Jeonghan’s hand and sipped the liquid in it.

“Yep,” he said. “That’s beer alright. Safe for you to drink.”

“Really? You’re doing a quality check?” Jeonghan chuckled.

“Who knows what he put in there!”

“You’re so—”

“Jeonghan!” Juli suddenly yelled from behind them. “You look hot, OMG!”

Jeonghan bit his lip to keep himself from smiling. “Thanks.”

“Cheol, would you mind if I borrowed Jeonghan for a while? I promise I’ll bring him back.”

Cheol looked at Jeonghan, wanting to see if he was comfortable. Jeonghan nodded subtly.

“Alright. Sure,” Cheol said.

“Great! We’ll be right back!”

Thus, Juli pulled Jeonghan away with her and into the packed house. “Oh, my God. I ‘m so glad you came,” Cheol heard Juli say as they walked away.

Meanwhile, as Cheol settled on one of the sunbeds around the pool, Hyungjae approached him with a shit-eating grin.

“Well, look at you, man!” he said. “So, what…you guys came here together?”

“I brought Jeonghan here if that’s what you mean.”

“Yeah, right! Come on, man! Let’s get real! You’re with him 24/7! I may be wasted right now but I’m not blind!”

“There’s nothing going on,” Cheol sipped his beer.

“Nah…you’re clearly mixing business with pleasure!” Hyungjae insisted.

Cheol shook his head and took one more sip of his beer. “I’d hate to break it to you, man, but it’s just a bet.”

Hyungjae rolled his eyes, “Yeah, right.” And then he walked away.

Just when Cheol thought he’d spend the rest of the night at peace in the middle of chaos, Jiwon walked in rather conspicuously with her surfer boyfriend.

The man, wearing a ridiculous shiny silver shirt over an equally ridiculous pair of tight leather jeans, came in whooping like he was somehow the man of the night. His arm was thrown across Jiwon’s shoulders—the girl looked already drunk out of her mind in spite of arriving at the party late.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Kang Jiwon!” a girl from Cheol’s circle of friends announced. “What a surprise!”

“Yeah,” Jiwon slurred. “We almost didn’t make it! But whatever!”

The ridiculous-looking surfer manchild looked around the backyard, throwing finger guns and winks at anyone who looked at him, totally ignoring Jiwon.

“Honey!” Jiwon squawked. “I need a beer!”

“What?” he replied over the noise.

“I said I need a beer!!” she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

“Fine! Okay!” manchild said and walked away to find drinks.

All of this, Cheol witnessed, and he was secretly grateful that he had somehow escaped the ruthless claws of Jiwon.

How did he ever get to the point of finding her pretty or, at the very least, tolerable? She was clearly a jerk to everyone around her. Especially to Cheol when they were together.

“Good riddance,” Cheol murmured to himself and returned to sipping his beer, wondering where Jeonghan had gone.

“Cheol!” Jiwon suddenly yelled from across the yard. “Hey!”

Oh, hell no… Cheol thought, mentally running a hand down his face.

“Hey!” Jiwon said as she stood in front of Cheol who looked like he wished he was somewhere else. “How’s it going?”

“Good. Great,” Cheol clipped.

“You know…my boyfriend’s gonna come back with drinks. I can introduce you or get you an autograph!”

“No, thank you. I don’t need an autograph from a guy who looks like he’s cosplaying Steven Tyler.”

Jiwon huffed, obviously put off. “Jump up my ass, Cheol!”

Cheol smirked. “Been there, done that.”

“Jiwon! Get in here! The DJ rocks!!” manchild screamed from the double doors leading back to the house, catching everyone’s attention and making them laugh in amusement.

“Cool boyfriend you have there, huh?” Cheol chided, making Jiwon stomp her feet in annoyance.

“Fuck you!” she yelled before marching away.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

Having lost Juli in the crowd of dancers some moments ago, Jeonghan decided to go back to the backyard, hoping that Cheol would still be waiting there. But as he walked around a couple making out by the double doors, he accidentally ran into Jiwon.

The hit was so hard that he spilled his drink all over her dress.

“Watch it!” Jiwon screamed.

“Sorry—”

“I don’t need your sorry! This dress is expensive, you idiot!”

“Hey!” Jeonghan felt his hackles rise instantly. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and were watching the exchange at this point—even the ones around the backyard began to peek in. Including Cheol.

“Wait a minute,” Jiwon narrowed her eyes at Jeonghan. “You’re Yoon Jeonghan aren’t you? Isn’t your dad my pool guy?”

Jeonghan squared his shoulders, trying to measure up to her in her high heels. “I wouldn’t know.”

Jiwon scoffed, then something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She reached over to one of the guests who were witnessing the whole ordeal with bated breath, and took his red cup.

Jiwon smiled slyly at Jeonghan and then dumped the contents of the cup on the front of his shirt. “Oopsie,” she said, faux innocently. “You should really be careful with silk next time.”

Jeonghan gasped softly and looked down at his shirt, then he trained a scowl at Jiwon.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“I said thank you,” Jeonghan’s scowl deepened further. “For a minute I forgot why I avoided places like this and people like you.”

Jiwon crowded over Jeonghan. “Avoided people like us? Look around you, loser. To everyone here, you’re dust. A waste of perfectly good yearbook space. Even a makeover’s not gonna change that.”

Jiwon backed Jeonghan into the wall. “Aww…you’re not gonna cry, are you?”

Jeonghan’s lips trembled but he refused to let anyone see him crumble. Thus, with his heart pounding and aching, he slipped past Jiwon and ran out of the house, much to everyone’s shock.

Cheol, who was frozen during the exchange, immediately ran after Jeonghan to the front lawn.

“Jeonghan!” he yelled after him. “Jeonghan, wait!”

But Jeonghan refused to listen. He ran as fast as he could in his heeled shoes until he tripped.

“Shit!” he gasped, his knees scraping against the ground.

Cheol bent down in front of him with worry. He reached over. “Jeonghan…”

“Don’t touch me!” Jeonghan cried.

“Jeonghan…”

“I promised myself,” Jeonghan sniffled. “I promised I would never ever let anyone see me cry.”

Cheol looked at Jeonghan’s crying form, desperate to offer him some comfort. But then, “It’s okay,” was all he could offer.

“It’s not okay, Seungcheol!” Jeonghan said angrily, running his hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have come here!”

“Jeonghan…we were having fun today. You—you were having fun,” Cheol licked his lips before continuing. “Sometimes, when you open up to people, you let the bad in with the good. That’s all.”

Jeonghan breathed deeply, looking Cheol right in the eyes. “I wanna go home, Seungcheol.”

“Okay,” Cheol nodded. “I’ll take you home.”

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

Some days later…

Jeonghan was making his way to art class, pushing past students who seemed to be following him with their eyes. Or was he just paranoid?

As Jeonghan walked briskly, someone yelled out his name and soon walked astride him.

“Hyung,” Seungkwan said. “How was the party? I never heard anything from you.”

“Hi, Seungkwan,” Jeonghan replied plainly. “It was bad.”

“Hmm. How bad?”

“Hey, Jeonghan! You’re awesome!” someone said from behind Jeonghan who raised a confused brow.

“It was bad bad,” Jeonghan replied to Seungkwan.

“You’re crazy awesome!” another person walking past Jeonghan said.

“Oh, come on. Didn’t you have even just a little fun?” Seungkwan inquired.

“Okay, maybe I had fun for like five minutes.”

“Yoon Jeonghan, you’re tres cool, man!” another student greeted Jeonghan.

“Alrigh, wait a minute,” Jeonghan paused in his steps abruptly, making Seungkwan stumble a few steps ahead of him.

“What, hyung?”

“Why is everyone suddenly telling me I’m cool?”

“Uh…because you are?” Seungkwan scratched his cheek with a finger, a habit that Cheol also seemed to have.

“I’m not cool! Nobody ever thought of me as cool before!”

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen!” the speakers around campus resounded. “The ballots are out for the seniors’ ball! Better choose your king or queen soon! Looks like our resident campus queen Kang Jiwon has found herself a mean competition in the form of the falafel fairy himself!”

“Ooh…interesting,” Seungkwan chirped innocently.

The announcer continued, “To be honest, I think the real question on every Cheonguk student’s mind is will Yoon Jeonghan kick Kang Jiwon’s butt this year?”

“What the hell?!” Jeonghan’s mouth fell into a perfect O. “Who the hell would nominate me?!”

Seungkwan pretended to look around, avoiding Jeonghan’s eyes. “I don’t know…maybe someone who thinks you’re amazing…”

“Seungkwan,” Jeonghan said seriously.

“What?”

“Seungkwan!”

“Fine!” Seungkwan threw his arms in the air. “I nominated you! So now you and that Jiwon witch are going head-to-head!”

“Jeonghan,” Juli said as she bumped into Jeonghan. “I just heard…congratulations!”

“Uh…thanks…”

“You totally deserve it!”

Seungkwan smiled as Juli walked away. “See, hyung? I think you got this!”

“But I thought she was friends with Jiwon?”

“Well, things change.”

“I can’t believe this is happening…”

“Better start believing it, campus king!”

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“He broke up with me!” Jiwon wailed in the middle of the campus garden.

“You’re kidding,” Juli said although she mentally rolled her eyes.

“He’s a total loser compared to me! How could he ever leave me?! I’m the campus queen!”

Juli sighed and reached over to grasp Jiwon’s hands. “What happened?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know!”

“Well, what did he say to you?”

Jiwon wailed, her mascara running down her cheeks. “He said it’s been fun! But did I honestly think he’d continue his celebrity status while dating me?!”

Juli sighed, still mentally rolling her eyes at Jiwon’s melodramatics. “You know what I think? You’re better off without him.”

Jiwon sniffled. “You’re the best, Juli.” And then she sobbed again.

After a few minutes more of her crying, she looked up and noticed a student pasting something on the freedom wall.

“Wait—what’s that poster over there?”

Juli turned in her seat and followed Jiwon’s eyes.

“Yoon Jeonghan for campus king…” Jiwon read. “What the fuck?!”

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“You had a bad game today, pal,” one of Cheol’s teammates said as soon as they hit the lockers.

“I didn’t have it in me today, I guess,” Cheol replied kindly.

“That,” Hyungjae said. “Or it’s a symptom of withdrawal.”

“Excuse me?”

Hyungjae shrugged. “I don’t blame you. Correct me if I’m wrong but it has been a while since you gotten laid. And you know something like that can really screw you up!”

Cheol scoffed and made his way to his locker. Hyungjae, ever the annoying one, followed suit. “I heard Jiwon’s free now—”

“Whatever, Hyungjae.”

“Ah…I get it. It’s Jeonghan’s ass that you wanna tap this time!”

Cheol turned around to face Hyungjae. “It’s not about that.”

“Oh, hey, man. I’m not bagging. I mean, if you’re not about to fuck Jeonghan, do you mind if I do?”

“I swear to God if you fucking touch him!” Cheol shoved Hyungjae’s chest, making the man stumble back a few steps.

Hyungjae shoved him back and soon they were about to throw punches at each other. The other members of the football team had to step in and immediately break them apart.

“Fuck you, Cheol!” Hyungjae said as he was being held back. “For four years I’ve watched you fool everyone into thinking you’re some sort of god in this campus! Well, guess what—this contest you’re gonna lose! I’ll take Yoon Jeonghan home, you got that?!”

Cheol, with his nostrils flaring from anger, didn’t gratify Hyungjae with an answer. Instead, he grabbed his duffel bag and stormed out of the locker room.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“Post that one on the wall over there, Seokmin hyung” Seungkwan directed a member of the small squad he purposefully assembled to make Jeonghan win the seniors’ ball competition. “Chan, put that one next to the bulletin board!”

He checked a few boxes on his to-do list and looked up. “Shua hyung, put yours on the senior patio so everyone can see!”

Indeed, Seungkwan had worked all weekend producing different pamphlets, posters and stickers—all to promote Jeonghan into becoming the next senior ball king. Nevermind promoting his own brother, Cheol wasn’t even trying to compete. And besides, Cheol had ruled over and will continue to rule over Cheonguk even without officially being crowned at the ball—that part everyone at campus knew.

At the other side of campus, however, Jiwon was running her own campaign. Garbed in her skimpy cheerleader’s uniform, she handed out chocolates and flyers that screamed “Vote for Jiwon! She’s hotter!”

But Seungkwan wasn’t about to bow down—especially as he never liked the girl from the beginning, even before she started dating Cheol.

“We can’t let a spoiled airhead run this school like a circus,” Seungkwan murmured to himself with determination.

Indeed, in him Jeonghan found his own cheering squad and campaign team.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

Meanwhile, as everyone in Cheonguk was wrapped around the upcoming ball, Jeonghan isolated himself in the basement of their home, spending the day by painting.

The piece was centered around the memory of his mother, how she used to care for him, caress him, kiss him goodnight. Needless to say, it was a sad, nostalgic piece that made his heart clench.

Jeonghan heard the basement door open and close but he refused to look away from the canvas.

“No one’s allowed down here,” he said.

“That’s amazing,” he heard Cheol say.

He didn’t gratify Cheol with an answer, instead he continued to to apply blue paint around the portrait of his mother.

“Is…is that your mom?” Cheol asked.

“Yes,” Jeonghan replied quietly. “She was an artist, too. A photographer.”

“She’s beautiful.”

“Yeah…too bad not everything’s hereditary.”

“What are you talking about? You’re also—”

“Seungcheol.”

“Sorry,” Cheol pursed his lips. After a while he cleared his throat. “So…how did she die?”

“Cancer,” Jeonghan said, setting down his palette and sitting down on the stool. He still refused to look at Cheol, instead keeping his eyes on the painting. “You know what’s the crazy part? I don’t even remember crying. I remember the funeral…I remember holding Soobin. I remember knowing that things aren’t ever going to be the same again.”

Cheol heaved a deep breath, putting a comforting hand on Jeonghan’s shoulder. “Jeonghan…you can’t keep doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Shutting everybody out…sitting here with locks on your door—”

“So, I shut people out, huh?” Only then did Jeonghan look at Cheol. “At least I make decisions, which is more than I can say for you.”

“Hey, I make decisions—”

“Oh, yeah? Where are you going after graduation, Seungcheol? I was by the counselor’s office yesterday. I believe next to your name it said ‘undecided’.”

Cheol looked away and clenched his jaw. “Look, there are stuff you don’t understand. You don’t live with my dad.”

“Explain it to me, then.”

“My dad works at one of Seoul’s top architecture firms. And he’s living the best years of his life. So, ever since I was born—”

Cheol stopped to breathe and looked Jeonghan square in the eye. “There’s a picture of me in his office from when I was five. I was sitting on his shoulders wearing his company sweatshirt.”

“So?”

“So, it’s emblematic! I get it from him everyday! ‘Pick a company, Cheol! Pick a future!’ But what he’s really saying is, ‘Pick my company. Choose my  future’.”

Cheol tried to walk away but Jeonghan stopped him with a hand on his elbow. “Are you listening to yourself? Do you realize how lucky you are? You can go to any firm you want—you can even go to Antarctica and study the penguins there! Point is, you’re 22 and that’s old enough to make your own decisions.”

“Okay, okay. Chill,” Cheol laughed wryly. “But what about you? Shouldn’t you be looking in the mirror when you say the things you just said?”

Jeonghan smiled tightly, his chest feeling heavy. “Trust me. I’m working on it.”

Cheol smiled at him, eyes softening. “So…are you always this smart?”

“Well, I have my moments.”

Cheol chuckled, making Jeonghan break into a radiant smile.

“Why did you really come here, Seungcheol?”

“I actually forgot,” Cheol replied, stepping closer into Jeonghan’s space. “I guess I just wanted to see you…”

Jeonghan didn’t know what to say, all he knew was that Cheol’s eyes were a beautiful shade of deep brown and his lashes were so long and thick and his cheeks bunched up cutely whenever he smiled.

Jeonghan didn’t know what to say, so he allowed Cheol to lean in closer, closer, closer…

Cheol’s lips were a mere inch away from his own when Jeonghan murmured, “You’re not just trying to get my vote for seniors’ ball king, are you?”

Cheol paused. Seniors’ ball. Campus king. The bet. All the thoughts came rushing into Cheol’s mind and he suddenly jumped away as if he’d been burned by something.

“Seungcheol?” Jeonghan asked gently. “This whole ball thing, I—”

“I, uh,” Cheol scrambled. “I gotta run.”

“But I kinda wanted to talk to you about it—”

“Yeah, but I remembered I have this plate I gotta finish for a class,” Cheol began ascending the stairs.

“Now?”

“Can I—can I call you later?”

Jeonghan nodded in spite of his confusion at the sudden change of Cheol’s attitude.

“Alright. Great.”

And Cheol bounded up the stairs, away from Jeonghan and his melancholic painting.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“Hyung, you look so cute without your glasses on. I’m glad you took my advice about the contacts,” Seungkwan said happily as he sat across from Jeonghan at the McDonald’s branch closest to Jeonghan’s village.

“I’m glad I did, too. I found that it’s easier to paint without having to adjust the glasses on my nose from time to time,” Jeonghan smiled back.

“That’s great!” Seungkwan reached for a french fry. “But what are we doing here again?”

“Looking after my sister,” Jeonghan spared a glance over Seungkwan’s shoulder where Soobin sat a few tables away with her friends.

“Right. Soobin’s too pretty to be let out on her own, huh?”

“It’s not that. I just think she’s too young, you know. I worry about her.”

“I can’t blame you; you’ve been her stand-in mom.”

Jeonghan nodded and pushed the plate of fries closer to Seungkwan who hummed happily while chomping.

Jeonghan let his mind wander off as he watched the scenes before him, letting the weirdness of his last encounter with Cheol melt away.

But thinking of Cheol these days brought a different train of thought to Jeonghan.

“Seungkwan…am I kissable?”

“What?”

“Nevermind…”

Seungkwan hummed around a fry. “I don’t know, hyung…you’re you. Why’d you ask?”

“No reason at all—”

“Did Cheol hyung try to kiss you?”

“What—no!”

Seungkwan squinted at him as a smile bloomed on his face. “He did, didn’t he?”

“Seungkwan—”

“It’s alright! I get that you guys are taking this slowly.”

“It’s not like that!”

“Shush. I won’t tease you anymore. But only because the fries are extra good here.”

As Seungkwan got back to eating his fries, Jeonghan allowed himself to relax again. Why did Cheol hold back from kissing him that afternoon? He was really about to kiss him, right? Or was that all in Jeonghan’s head?

Jeonghan sighed and rested his chin on his palm.

Just then, a group of high school girls walked into the joint and looked around for seats. That’s when they seemingly spotted Soobin and her group.

One of the girls who stood at the forefront, appearing to be the leader, smiled slyly and led the group toward Soobin’s table.

“Well, if it isn’t the motherless weirdo,” she said, staring right at Soobin. “I thought I told you that this branch was ours?”

Soobin squared her shoulders. “Why, Minji? Are your parents suddenly the owners?”

The leader, Minji, scoffed at her and shoved her shoulder. “Scram, you freaks.”

“Can’t you see we’re eating?” one of Soobin’s friends piped up.

“I don’t give a shit. Get off our table now.”

As if to punctuate her statement, Minji knocked over Soobin’s plate of fries. “Get out of here!”

Jeonghan was about to get up and intervene when out of nowhere Cheol stood before Soobin’s table with a scowl.

“Leave them alone,” he told Minji.

“And who the hell are you?” Minji asked in spite of the obvious shake in her voice.

“I’m her big brother. And here’s what you’re going to do—you’re gonna apologize for causing a ruckus and either find your own table or just scram.”

“Oppa—” Soobin began.

“So, what’s it gonna be, girls?” Cheol continued, clenching his jaw and looking so intimidatingly attractive—at least for Jeonghan.

Minji rolled her eyes. “Sorry.”

Cheol raised a brow. “That’s not good enough, miss.”

“I said, sorry!”

“Tell them you guys aren’t gonna bother them ever again.”

“That’s not part of what you said earlier—”

“Say it. Don’t make me force you to do it.”

Minji pursed her lips and rolled her eyes once more. “Sorry. We won’t bother you again. You can have this table, too.”

“Good,” Cheol crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Now, walk away.”

“Whatever,” Minji flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned away, her friends bowing to Cheol before trailing after her.

“Oppa!” Soobin said, her lips trembling. “That was so cool of you! Thank you!”

“They were bothering you so I had to step in.”

“Thank you, Soobin’s oppa!” one of the girls said. “But we didn’t know she had another brother!”

“He’s not really my brother—at least, not yet,” Soobin beamed. “He’s dating Jeonghan oppa, you know.”

“Wow! I hope they end up together forever!” another of the girls said, het eyes sparkling as she looked up at Cheol.

Cheol smiled at them and patted the top of Soobin’s head. “I won’t bother you girls, go have fun. I’m here for Jeonghan.”

The girls squealed in unison, finding the simple statement purely romantic.

From across the room, Cheol made eye contact with Jeonghan who had his eyebrows raised.

“Thank you,” Jeonghan mouthed. To which, Cheol smiled.

If Jeonghan’s heart skipped a beat, he wouldn’t admit it to himself.

“Well, isn’t my hyung the perfect knight in shining armor?” Seungkwan sing-songed.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“Hey, Jeonghan…Jeonghan!”

Jeonghan snapped out of his musings at the sound of Hyungjae’s voice. He was in the middle of clearing a table at the restaurant he was working at when he got lost in his thoughts.

“Stop shouting,” Jeonghan hissed. “I’m working.”

“Didn’t look like it. You were zoning out,” Hyungjae smiled in a way that told Jeonghan he was trying to look charming but successfully failed.

Jeonghan piled the plates on one arm. “What are you doing here?”

“I was hoping we could talk.”

“And you decided to ambush me at my workplace? I can get fired, you know.”

“Well, I didn’t know how else I could get a hold of you. You’re quite busy at school.”

“I’m busy right now, too.”

“You got a point.”

Jeonghan sighed and turned to Hyungjae. “What do you want?”

“Look, I know I don’t come off as the nicest guy in the world but I was hoping maybe we could go out sometime.”

Jeonghan frowned, his mouth falling open. “What is it with you popular guys?!”

“Go with me to the seniors’ ball?”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”

He finished piling up the plates and ambled toward the kitchen where he would dump the dishes on the sink.

Surprisingly, Hyungjae followed suit. “So, is that a no?”

“It’s a hell no!”

“Jeonghan, who is this?” the manager said, tilting her head at Hyungjae.

“Just someone from school. Please ignore him Dawon noona.”

The manager frowned but shrugged anyway.

“Okay, that’s fair,” Hyungjae said, tucking his hands in his pockets. “I mean, why would you say yes, right? I just hope this isn’t about Cheol because…”

“Why?” Jeonghan said, dumping the plates on the sink.

“It’s not exactly my place to say this but…he doesn’t care about you like that.”

Jeonghan paused.

“You see, Cheol told everybody that he was still into Jiwon,” Hyungjae said nonchalantly. “But, I don’t know, maybe I got it  all wrong. Has he asked you out to the ball yet?”

Jeonghan refused to reply. Instead, he wiped his hands on the mantle by the sink.

“Well,” Hyungjae continued. “Just a heads-up, okay? I mean, there’s no sense in getting hurt for no reason.”

Jeonghan turned away from Hyungjae and pretended to get something from the double-door fridge. The man, thankfully, took it as a sign to leave and so he did. But before he could exit through the kitchen doors, he whipped around.

“Oh, and Jeonghan? Think about the ball some more. I’ll be around. We’d have a great time, I think.”

Jeonghan  glared into the refrigerator, taking in all of Hyungjae’s words.

What did he expect—that suddenly the campus king actually liked him? That everything that Cheol did so far was because he cared for him?

A long shot, Jeonghan, he told himself. A long shot, after all.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

Cheol jogged up to his room after a long day of academics and football practice, hoping to just drop himself on his bed and sleep the night away.

But, as it turned out, destiny had other plans for there, in the middle of Cheol’s room, stood his father, clutching the folder where Cheol had hidden the acceptance letters from the architecture firms he applied to weeks ago.

“Dad—”

“Do you want to explain all of this to me?!” Mr. Choi chimed in before Cheol could continue.

Cheol ran a hand down his handsome face. “Can we talk about this some other time?”

“Have you got any idea how much you’re jeopardizing your future?! Half of these acceptance deadlines lapsed!”

“Dad, it’s not that easy! I’m not like you! I just can’t pick a letter out of a stack!”

“Of course, you can! That’s what being an adult is all about! Making choices!”

“Really?” Cheol clenched his jaw. “What about your choices, dad?”

“This is not about me—”

“Oh, come on. Look, you’re never home. You’re pissed half the time—”

“That’s enough!”

Cheol breathed out heavily, feeling the tension in his shoulders. “I’m sorry. But you can’t fix your mistakes through me.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?” Mr. Choi pinched the bridge of his nose and likewise breathed out. Calmer this time, he said, “I’m sorry. But that was not my intention. And blaming me isn’t going to change the fact that the future is going to happen whether you are ready for it or not.”

Mr. Choi handed the folder to Cheol, holding his eyes for a beat too long before showing himself out of the bedroom.

Cheol collapsed on the bed, clutching the folder on his chest and feeling more at a loss than ever.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“Hello, seniors!” the student announcer said as the speakers blared throughout the campus. “Only two weeks left and we’ll be having the ball of the year! You know what I’m talking about. And! Speaking of the big night! Word has it that the support Yoon Jeonghan had been receiving has left the seniors’ king or queen race tighter than those little dresses Kang Jiwon has been wearing around campus! So, vote early, vote often!”

Just as the campus DJ played the university’s anthem, Jeonghan crossed paths with the aforementioned Jiwon, looking extra sexy in her blue dress that Jeonghan was sure was against campus dress code.

Jiwon faced him head-on, her head tilted high.

“Huh,” Jiwon looked at Jeonghan from head to toe. “So this is really what I’m up against?”

“Hey Jiwon, Jeonghan! How about a picture for the campus paper?” a campus journalist piped in suddenly. 

“Sure!” Jiwon forced a smile at him and threw an arm around Jeonghan’s shoulders. “In the name of sportsmanship.”

The camera flashed, leaving Jeonghan a little dizzy.

“Get ready to get your ass handed over to you, you little gay bitch,” Jiwon gritted out through her fake smile.

“We’ll see, fake tits,” Jeonghan replied through his own fake smile.

Jiwon whipped her head way too fast that she could’ve broken her neck. “Why you—”

“See you around,” Jeonghan smiled and pranced away like he had won something.

“How did he even know?!” Jiwon murmured to herself, her mouth falling open, scandalized.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“Cheol!” Jiwon yelled from across the gym. “Cheol, wait!”

Cheol huffed, wanting nothing else but to disappear. It was too late though as Jiwon began running toward him.

“What do you want?” Cheol said when the girl was in front of him, blocking his way.

“I tried on this Dior dress the other day  and I just remembered that we haven’t really finalized our plans.”

“What plans?”

“For the seniors’ ball, silly!”

“I mean, we always said we’d go together, right?”

Cheol tsked. “What happened to the Steven Tyler cosplayer?”

“He is soooo over. I mean, God, I don;t even know what came over me!”

Jiwon brazenly put a hand on Cheol’s chest and slipped it down to his abs. Cheol brushed off her hand.

“Actually, I have other plans,” he said.

“Oh, you’re not talking about Yoon Jeonghan, are you?”

“What if I am?”

“Well, Cheol, if I’m not mistaken, he’s already taken.” Jiwon tilted her head to the side, her eyes focusing on something over Cheol’s shoulder.

Cheol whipped around, following her gaze. And there he saw Hyungjae talking with Jeonghan. Cheol immediately felt his hackles rise. He marched toward the two.

“Hyungjae! What the hell are you trying to pull?”

Hyungjae turned toward Cheol’s voice. “Well, it’s nice to see you, too, man.”

Cheol glanced at Jeonghan. “Did he ask you to the seniors’ ball?”

“Yes, I did,” Hyungjae answered.

“It’s bullshit!”

“Wait,” Jeonghan quirked a brow. “Someone asking me out is bullshit?”

“No, that’s not it,” Cheol gulped. “I just…I thought we were going together?”

“Alright, Cheol, that’s enough,” Hyungjae said. “This isn’t cool anymore. I like Jeonghan and you gotta stop this whole bet thing.”

Jeonghan froze. “What?”

None of the boys replied.

“What bet?” Jeonghan asked again, looking between the two.

“Yeah,” Hyungjae spoke before Cheol could. “It was stupid, Jeonghan. But Cheol said he could make anyone campus royalty and he picked you. He thinks that if he took you to the ball, it’ll help you win.”

Hyungjae looked at Cheol who had remained frozen throughout Hyngjae’s litany. “People have feelings, Cheol.”

Jeonghan spared another glance at Cheol and he was sure that if he were to look at himself he’d only see pain and betrayal. He felt small and pitiful—much like himself before he got entangled in the world of the popular kids.

“Is…is that true?” he said, hoping his voice wouldn’t break. “Am I a bet? Am I a fucking bet?!”

Cheol was locked in place and all he could say at the moment was, “Yes.”

And to add fuel to the fire, Jiwon came slinking around Cheol, hugging him from behind. “You didn’t think you became popular for real, did you? Oh, you did…That’s so sweet!”

Jeonghan shook his head in disbelief, slowly backing away from the three. When he was far enough, he turned around and decided he would skip art class to cry on his own at home.

“Pick me up at 8, Cheollie,” Jiwon whispered right at Cheol’s ear before detaching herself and sashaying away.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

It had been two weeks since the debacle at the gym and Jeonghan had basically withdrawn himself from public scrutiny. The last thing he wanted was to be on the mouths of the hormonal, judgmental and gossip-hungry kids at campus.

Much like he did before he got thrown into the eye of the storm, he attended his classes quietly, went about his academics like clockwork, clocked into his parttime job and went home.

He had mostly returned to his old self, even going back to wearing his thick-rimmed glasses.

It had been two weeks, yet Cheol never missed a day to call or text even though Jeonghan refused to answer him. It had been two weeks and tonight was finally the seniors’ ball.

Hating everything about the meaningless, overrated ritual before graduation, Jeonghan decided to continue his painting—the one where the central figure was his mother, blue and melancholic. Just like how he felt inside.

Meanwhile, as it was ball night, Cheol garbed himself in a simple black three-piece suit. Still, he refused to leave home without calling Jeonghan nonstop, hoping that he had somehow changed his mind.

He kept dialing his number, kept leaving him apologetic messages, and yet he got nothing in return. He even tried calling Soobin’s number but Jeonghan still refused to take the call.

“Sorry, Cheol oppa. He’s locked himself in the basement. There’s no changing his mind,” Soobin told him earlier that night.

Soon, the clock struck eight, prompting the beginning of the seniors’ ball. Cheol had to leave soon. And thus, with a sigh, he lifted himself off the bed, put on his coat and headed out the door.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

Jeonghan heard his father descend the stairs before the man could ever talk.

“I’m heading to the grocery store later, dad. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Sounds good,” Mr. Yoon replied. He looked around the basement and then at Jeonghan’s recent painting. He spoke quietly. “Did you know that some people think being a pool man is not a very respectable way of earning a living?”

“People suck, dad.”

“I don’t get it, personally. I own my own company, my own home, put food on the table. Granted, you help out with the bills.”

Jeonghan whipped around to face his father. “We’re a team.”

“Right…” Mr. Yoon smiled bittersweetly. “But maybe this team is creating a confusion as to who the real parent is.”

“What do you mean, dad?”

“You know I appreciate everything you do, Jeonghan. But sometimes I think you’re taking on so much so you don’t have to deal with the business of being a kid. I can’t imagine being 22 is easy, especially when your mom’s not around. I’m just afraid that if you keep putting off your life like this…you’re gonna wake up 85 years old sitting on your porch, looking for your teeth.”

“Thanks, dad. That was…graphic.”

Mr. Yoon sighed. “Don’t you have a party to go to tonight?”

“Nah, I’m not going.”

“You’re not, huh? What, you got laundry to do?”

“Worse,” Jeonghan smiled tightly. “I don’t have a date.”

“No date?” Mr. Yoon crossed his arms across his chest. “Now, that’s weird because I’m pretty sure there’s a handsome young man waiting for you upstairs.”

“What?!” Jeonghan was caught off guard. Immediately, he got up from his stool and made his way up the stairs.

“Have fun, Jeonghan. For you, not for someone else,” Mr. Yoon said before his son disappeared out of the basement door.

As Jeonghan bounded up the stairs, he hated that all he could think about was Cheol.

Cheol had decided to take him to the ball, after all, in spite of Jeonghan ghosting him for weeks. Cheol—the sweet, apologetic Cheol—had somehow mustered the strength and courage to pluck Jeonghan out of his miserable bubble.

Cheol, Cheol, Cheol—

Jeonghan didn’t know whether or not to be disappointed at Cheol or himself as he saw Hyungjae waiting at the foyer for him.

Oh.

No.

“Hi, Jeonghan,” he said. “You don’t trust me and I respect that. But just look at it this way, I didn’t ask anyone else on the chance that I’d come here tonight and you’d say yes. I mean, that’s gotta count for something, right?”

Jeonghan averted his eyes.

“You don’t have to change if you don’t want to,” Hyungjae said, making Jeonghan laugh airily.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“Are you ready, Mr. Boo?”

“Ready if you are, Mr. Choi.”

Cheol smiled up at his brother from the foot of the stairs.

“Hyung,” Seungkwan said. “Are you sure it’s alright for me to attend the seniors’ ball?”

“Don’t worry. I buttered up the principal so he could give you a ticket. It’s fine.,” Cheol replied, reaching out to take Seungkwan’s hand. “Now, come on.”

Seungkwan smiled and took the proffered hand. “It still sucks that you can’t come with Jeonghan hyung.”

“Well, he still hates me, apparently.”

“He still hasn’t answered any of your calls?”

“Nope. Can’t blame him though. I made that stupid bet, after all.”

Seungkwan shook his head at his half brother. “You gotta face him one of these days.”

“Yeah, I know. I just hope he’ll be there at the ball.”

“Don’t worry, hyung. I have a feeling he’ll be there.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Jiwon sat on the couch in her home, waiting impatiently for Cheol to pick her up, totally oblivious that the man had chosen his own half brother as a date to the ball.

Hah! Rightly so!

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

Indistinct chatter and laughter filled the gymnasium of Cheonguk University when Cheol and Seungkwan stepped in.

On one side, students in their best garbs lined up to get their ball photos taken, while on the other side, the pumped up kids danced to the vague house remix that the DJ played.

Cheol looked around, surveying the crown for one particular face, yet he didn’t see it.

“He didn’t come,” he murmured to Seungkwan.

“Don’t speak too soon. He might come in later,” Seungkwan hissed back. “Oh, look! The punch bowl!”

Without waiting for his brother’s realtor, Seungkwan let go of his hand and headed for the said punch bowl.

Just like that, Cheol was left to his own devices. He once again looked over at the crowd, trying to spot Jeonghan.

This time, however, he finally found him.

There, at the outskirts of the dancefloor was Jeonghan, dancing alongside Hyungjae to a house remix of Nicki MInaj’s Starships.

Cheol took a deep inhale, counted to ten and then exhaled. Before his guts could betray him, he marched toward Jeonghan, intent on having a word with him. But when he was a few steps away from him, Jiwon suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“I forgive you for not picking me up,” she said. “Now, let’s dance.”

She pulled at Cheol’s arm, giving him no room to refuse, and began dancing like crazy in front of him.

Cheol froze, confused and annoyed. He spared glances at Jeonghan who seemed to still be unaware of his presence on the dancefloor.

“Go on and show them your moves, earthquakes!” the DJ announced, prompting a round of whoops and cheers from the crowd. “Shake it! Shake it!”

In the craziness of the dancefloor, at one point Jeonghan and Jiwon bumped into each other.

“Watch it!” Jiwon hissed.

“You  watch it, fat ass.”

“What the fuck?!”

Only then did Jeonghan notice the existence of Cheol, awkwardly standing next to Jiwon who was dancing. He quickly averted his eyes and made an excuse to Hyungjae to leave the floor.

“Jeonghan, wait—” Cheol yelled over the music.

Hyungjae placed a hand on his chest as though to stop him. “Leave him alone, man. He’s trying to have a good time.”

Away from the dancefloor, Jeonghan found himself on the sidelines, trying to get to the punch bowl.

“Jeonghan!” a female voice rose from the crowd.

“Miss Min. Hello!” Jeonghan greeted back.

“Hi! Enjoying the ball?”

Jeonghan merely smiled.

“Well, I just wanted you to know that your final project—that portrait of your mother—extremely moving! Maybe the best piece that I’ve seen all year from anyone!”

Jeonghan was taken aback. “Oh, wow…thank you, miss!”

“At least, that’s what I told all the galleries in Seoul when I faxed them last week!”

“What—you’re kidding…”

“Nope!” the professor smiled. “Jeonghan, I’ve spent four years trying to open you up. Whatever’s responsible for this changes, don’t let it go.”

Cheol, Jeonghan thought almost involuntarily. Cheol’s responsible.

“I gotta go,” Miss Min smiled. “Gotta look after all these kids.”

“Thank you, Miss Min. I owe you big time,” Jeonghan replied and the professor turned away toward the crowd of hormonal students.

Jeonghan then continued his way to the punch bowl, grabbing a glass and laddling himself some juice.

From where he stood, he directed his eyes on the dance floor where, right in the middle, was Cheol slow dancing with Jiwon.

Cheol’s eyes weren’t directed at her. In fact, it seemed like he was out looking for someone in the crowd.

Jeonghan chose to ignore them and find somewhere to sit.

Hyungjae, meanwhile, was suddenly nowhere to be found.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“Alright, boys! Check it out! Room number 409n is about to become a historical landmark!” Hyungjae announced in the boys’ restroom. 

“What, you’re getting murdered there later?” one of the boys from the football team said.

“No, man!” Hyungjae said, frowning. “I’m this close to closing the deal with Yoon Jeonghan. He’s eating up every word I say.”

“I don’t know, Hyungjae. I feel a bet coming on but I’m gonna have to resist” the same boy said. “Yoon Jeonghan is not gonna give you any.”

“Nah, man. Tonight is the night!” Hyungjae insisted, opening up the alcohol-filled flask he secretly tucked in his suit.

“Yeah, right…” another boy said as the group made their way past Hyungjae and out of the restroom.

“I shelled out 434,000 Won for this room!” Hyungjae called after them. “Tonight is definitely the night…”

Hyungjae quickly put the flask to his mouth and chugged the alcohol, like the sorry mess that he was, before making his own way out of the restroom.

Little did the boys know, someone was occupying one of the stalls and listening to their exchanges.

Seungkwan unlatched the lock on the last cubicle in the restroom, his mouth agape as he took in all that Hyungjae had planned for Jeonghan.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

The microphone feedback resounded in the gymnasium as the university president stood behind it on the stage.

“People,” he said. “Attention, Cheonguk students! We’re gonna start, people!”

Slowly, almost reluctantly, the students turned to the stage.

“I’ll begin the presentation with, uh…the announcement of your 2026 ball royalty.”

The crowd erupted in cheers.

“In the closest votes in the school’s history…54 percent to 46 percent. Your 2026 seniors’ ball royalty is…”

The crowd held its breath.

“Kang Jiwon, Kang Jiwon, Kang Jiwon,” Jiwon mouthed to herself, closing her eyes.

The president cleared his throat and then uttered, “Kang Jiwon!”

“Yes! Fuck yes!” Jiwon shouted at the top of her lungs as some of the students cheered while others booed.

“It should’ve been you up there,” Hyungjae whispered right into Jeonghan’s ear.

“I think the right person won,” Jeonghan replied.

The crowd continued to hoot as Jiwon was crowned with the quintessential plastic crown.

“Hyung! Cheol hyung!” Seungkwan yelled over the cheers. “Hyung!” but his yelling was drowned out even as he pushed past the other students.

“You wanna get outta here?” Hyungjae asked Jeonghan.

“Yeah…” Jeonghan replied.

“Excuse me…Pardon me…Excuse me…” Seungkwan tried his best to push through the crowd toward his brother, especially moving quickly as he saw Hyungjae lead Jeonghan out of the main floor.

“Hyung!” he tried one more time, just about two arms’ length away from Cheol.

“Hyung—oh, my God! Hyung!”

Cheol turned to him, finally. “What is it, Kwannie?”

“A key…Hotel…Oh, God…”

“Kwannie, breathe! What is it?”

“Hyungjae! He’s bringing Jeonghan hyung to a hotel!”

“What?!”

“Room 409, hyung! Catch Hyungjae before he gets away!”

“Wha the fuck?!”

Without another word, Cheol pushed past the student body and sprinted to the main door, hoping to catch Hyungjae before he could do anything nefarious to Jeonghan.

Cheol ran through the gym to the parking lot, trying to spot where Hyungjae’s car was parked. But, alas, the car was no longer there.

He tried calling Jeonghan, but his calls went straight to voicemail.

“Fuck! Fuck it all!” Cheol cursed, running to his own jeep and starting it up. To where he was going, he had no idea. All he knew was that he’d drive to every hotel in town if he had to just to find Jeonghan.

“Hello? L’Escape Hotel? Yeah, do you have a Chae Hyungjae registered under room 409 by any chance?” Cheol said to the phone as he drove. “Do you have a room 409?”

The call was dropped. “Shit!”

He dialed a different hotel once again. “Hello. Sunset Marquee, please. Do you have a Chae Hyungjae registered under room 409?”

And thus went Cheol’s night, dialing random hotels and driving around the city, hoping he was not too late—that Hyungjae didn’t have the chest to sink his nasty claws on pure, innocent Jeonghan.

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

“So.. this is a kidney-shaped pool…” Mr. Yoon said, showing a diagram on his sketchbook to Soobin while they’re sitting on the couch, waiting for Jeonghan to be home. “Hey! You gotta know these things if you’re planning to help me out once day.”

Soobin yawned. “Sorry, dad. I’m just too sleepy…”

“Alright. Now, what shape is this?”

“Kidney.”

“Very good. We’ve had a lot of different shapes and sizes over the years so you gotta know each one of them—”

“I’m home!” Jeonghan announced from the foyer, away from his family’s eyes.

“Well, that’s a bit early,” Mr. Yoon piped up. “How’d the party go?”

“Fine,” Jeonghan smiled. “You were right. I did have fun.”

“Well, uh, come here for a second, will you?”

Jeonghan nodded and ambled to the living room.

As he walked toward the room, he was slowly yet suddenly surprised to see that Cheol was standing opposite of his father, hands behind his back as though he was nervous about something.

Jeonghan stood dumbfounded as Cheol raked his eyes over his form.

Mr. Yoon cleared his throat. “Okay. Well, I gotta wake up pretty early tomorrow. So, I’ll head to bed now. You, too, Soobin.”

“Aww, dad!”

“Shush,” Mr. Yoon reprimanded. Then turned back to Jeonghan and Cheol. “If you two need to talk, maybe you can go to the backyard or something.”

“Sure,” Jeonghan said. “Goodnight, dad.”

Mr. Yoon ascended the stairs to his room and Soobin followed suit, but not before whispering, “I’ll kick your ass if you hurt my oppa!”

And then they were gone, leaving Cheol and Jeonghan alone.

Cheol stared at Jeonghan for a while, taking in his black silk shirt and his pristinely ironed slacks. “Are you alright?”

Jeonghan nodded meekly. “Yeah.”

“Seungkwan told me that he heard Hyungjae talking about how he wanted to—”

“Don’t worry. I figured it out a little later.”

Jeonghan entered the living room slowly, trying to pace himself in front of Cheol. “You know, sexual harassment is still a big issue these days. That’s why I carry this.”

Jeonghan fished out a small contraption from his pocket and showed it to Cheol. “You push a little button and it makes a noise like a foghorn. You can hear it about half a mile away. I put it right to Hyungjae’s ear. I just hope it doesn’t cause any permanent damage.”

Cheol chuckled softly.

Jeonghan smiled then slowly made his sashayed to the double doors leading up to the house’s backyard. He opened them up and led Cheol out.

“So,” Jeonghan said. “How long have you been here anyway?”

“A while,” Cheol muttered.

“You missed the rest of the seniors’ ball?”

“Yeah,” Cheol shrugged. “You know, I made that bet before I actually knew you, Jeonghan.  Before I really knew me.”

“What was it for, anyway? I mean, what did you end up losing?”

“My best friend…You.”

Jeonghan blinked up at Cheol. Interest shining in his eyes.

“You helped me a lot,” Cheol continued. “Before you, I thought we had to have all the answers right now.”

“And now?”

“I’m kind of liking the fact that I don’t,” Cheol answered truthfully, his heart singing. “So…” he said as he mustered all of his courage. “Can I have the last dance?”

Jeonghan looked at him right in the eyes and said point blanc, “No.”

“What?”

Jeonghan’s smile slowly bloomed on his face. “You can have the first.”

Without preamble, Jeonghan threw his arms around Cheol’s neck and smiled radiantly. This prompted Cheol to wrap his own arms around Jeonghan’s waist.

They swung from side to side. They didn’t need any music at all, for all the melody they needed was in their heads, uniformly singing a love song that was too beautiful, too perfect,  for any master to put onto paper.

Jeonghan smiled and Cheol thought that it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Really, breaking Jeonghan out of his shell was a long journey, but it was worth every step of the way. At that moment, he felt nothing more than an excitement of what was ahead of them—he was dreadfully excited about finding  more ways to make Jeonghan smile just like this.

As they continued to swing from side to side, the fairy lights strewn across the Yoons’ backyard came to life. Jeonghan suspected that it was all Soobin’s doing. He’d have to talk to his prying sister tomorrow but, for now, Cheol had all of his attention.

“I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman,” he murmured. “You know, except for the whole hooker thing.”

Cheol grinned at him, all dimples and crinkly eyes. “So…what now?”

Jeonghan hummed. “I don’t know…master’s in art. You?”

“I’ve been thinking about art school myself.”

“Art, huh?”

“Yeah!”

“You don’t take art.”

“Yeah, but I’m thinking more on the lines of performance art. Remember that tune you hummed on the gallery night? Pretty catchy.”

Jeonghan let out a laugh. “Seungcheol.”

“What?”

“Shut up.”

Jeonghan suddenly pulled Cheol’s face down and crashed their lips together in a searing kiss. No thoughts, no inhibitions. Just two hearts singing as one under the faint glow of fairy lights.

For a long moment, nothing existed between them. Just centuries upon centuries passing.

Jeonghan, having not done this before, allowed Cheol to lead the kiss. He melted against Cheol, feeling his heat crash against him.

It was surreal. It was divine. It was all Jeonghan had ever hoped for as his first kiss.

And Cheol? Well, he had never felt the way he did when kissing someone. Jeonghan was, in every sense of the word, an angel sent to him from Heaven above.

“Seungcheol?” Jeonghan said when they pulled apart eventually.

“Yes, baby?”

“About the bet…What were the terms, anyway?”

“You’ll see. I never back out on a bet.”

˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

Graduation season soon came upon Cheonguk University, and every student was itching to throw their graduation caps in the air and get rid of the last remnants of school life.

As the students sat on their chairs, waiting impatiently for their names to be called upon the stage, Jeonghan chanced a look at Cheol, a few rows in front of him.

Cheol looked back at the same time, a twinkle in his eye, and winked.

Jeonghan giggled to himself.

“Chae Hyungjae,” the university president called, but Hyungjae remained fixated on his phone which he tucked in his sleeves, away from the professors’ eyes.

“Chae Hyungjae,” the president called again.

Hyungjae’s seatmate nudged him.

“What?!” he hissed.

“He’s calling you.”

“What?!!” he asked louder, catching the attention of other students.

It seemed that Jeonghan’s little foghorn did damage the man’s eardrums, alright.

“I said, they’re calling you!” Hyungjae’s seatmate whisper-yelled back.

“Oh,” he said and immediately scrambled to get up and sprint to the stage.

The president continued to call on names after names until he got to the one Jeonghan had been waiting for all morning.

“Choi Seungcheol.”

Everyone erupted in laughter and cheers as Cheol got up from his seat and made his way toward the stage.

“Yes!”

“Take the ball off!”

“Show it off!”

The students chanted at once. And who was Cheol to refuse them?

As he stood proudly in the middle of the stage to receive his diploma, he threw the ball he was holding to hide his genitals purposefully at Jeonghan who caught it with a loud guffaw and a tint of deep pink on his cheeks.

That’s right… as it turned out, the terms of the bet was that the loser would streak naked on graduation day. Cheol, as proud as he was at the beginning of this story, thought there was no chance of him ever losing. But now, as he stood stark naked in front of the senior student body, he thought that there was nowhere else he’d rather be, nothing else he’d rather do, so long as he had Jeonghan’s heart and Jeonghan had his, too.