Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A loud sound of shoes stomping on the floor echoed through the hall as four boys rushed toward a class at the very end of the school passage.

They stopped in front of a half-wooden and a half-glass wall and slid down to their knees to hide.

A darkish brown-haired boy got on his feet to catch a glance at the inside of the classroom.

“Fuck! What do we do now? It’s Mr. Choi!” He quietly screamed as he got back to his former position on the floor, looking terrified like he was going to piss his pants.

The other two seemed to discuss something he didn’t care to listen to as he tried thinking of an excuse he could make for being late.

“Dino-yah, Wooyoung, and I are ditching all the way.” One of the boys referred to the dark brown hair by the nickname he’s achieved over the years for not the greatest reason.

He participated in a school play a few years ago and his role was a dinosaur in a museum. It was like a tree in any other play, except his teacher got creative about it. He stood straight for forty minutes straight, someone found an old video of it and reposted it on their social account. The school’s official page shared it and he was teased about it quite a lot until it became his frequent nickname and stopped bothering him as much.

“But we fought because of you two!” He frowned and shouted a lot louder than before.

“Yeah! And we can just ditch together!” Another one of them smiled happily with a red bloody scratch on the left corner of their lips.

“It’s impossible to be late when it’s Mr. Choi! Okay?” The Wooyoung guy tucked his lips into a downward smile and patted him on the shoulders to persuade him.

They stopped turning around and stood frozen for a second before disappearing out of sight at the speed of light.

He was confused, not knowing if he should yell or run after them because going in was definitely not an option.

His heart dropped when he heard a hem behind him. He didn’t dare to look back, as the chance that it was his teacher was 99%. The other 1% was just if he was able to run after his friends.

“Aren’t you going in, Mr. Lee?”

Before he could chase after his 1%, he was dragged by his backpack into the classroom by the owner of the low and angry voice.

“LEE CHAN! You’re never passing my class, understand?!”

“Sir, please! Just give me one chance!”

The laughter of students filled the room as he pleaded for his life with his hands pressed together and his knees almost on the floor.

“Call your parents this evening and write a repentance note!”

“But I didn’t—..” He thought for a moment before snitching on his friends.

His teacher shot him an icy cold glare and signed him to sit down. Chan went to his seat with a pout and plopped down.

As soon as he sat, he saw his deskmate looking at him with a satisfying grin spread across her face. Evil witch!

“Why are you always late for Mr. Choi’s class out of every other class?”

Chan ignored her and kept his eyes on the board.

“But don’t you think he’s too grumpy? I mean he already has a family. I wonder how his wife deals with it.” She sighed, staring at the sparkling ring on his finger.

Chan’s hands were white from gripping his pen. This is stupid. It was going to be the fifth time he called his parents to school this month.

And Mr. Choi is definitely not letting him off the hook this time like he did last time because Dino managed to convince him that he was ‘stuck in the bathroom’.

Soon after, the class was over and the teacher walked out of the classroom with a frown and an -I’ll kill you if you try to run away- glare that pointed at Chan.

Dino dramatically slapped his head on the desk a few times, whining before messaging his parents to come here.

He felt like the world was being extremely unfair to him. He didn’t even start the fight! He just joined in to help his friends and it’s not his fault that he’s good at fighting. It was all their fault! He was oh so going to kill them when he see them next time!!

When he came to the consulting room, his parents were already there, shooting him a deadly glare.

He stood beside Mr. Choi (the furthest away from his parents) who was standing behind his desk.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lee. Your son was late two times this week and the reasons on his repentance note were all because of a fight! Plus you could wipe a toilet with his grade. What are you planning to do now?!”

His parents seemed to be facing down, embarrassed to even look at him in the eye.

“Choi chan! You come to your own home today! It’s been a while since you got a beating so you’re stuck up now huh?!” Mr. Lee chid with his teeth gritted.

Chan swallowed and hid behind the teacher.

“Hyung, help..” He quietly whispered through a whine. The referred one rolled his eyes at him.

“Dad, it’s alright. I can handle him on my own.” The teacher sighed and put down the folders in his hand.

Mrs. Lee’s eyes brightened up at his words.

“That’s right! Seungcheol-ah.. please treat him more tenderly. You’re still his husband through the thick and the thin, after all.”

“I don’t want him to overrun boundaries just because he’s my husband. And we agreed on no family relations on school territory! But anyhow, you can’t hurt him like that. He’s not only your son but my husband now.”

Chan stared at Seungcheol like he was an angel while nodding to declare his agreement.

“Fine.. Just because Seungcheol said so. And you, Choi Chan! Consider yourself dead if you make trouble again!”

Chan bit back his pout and looked at Seungcheol as his parents walked out.

“Go wait in the car. I need to sort these out. Work is piled up ‘cause of you!” He said harshly before throwing his car key on the desk and walking out.

Chan sniffled and wiped his tearful eyes after he was nowhere to be seen.

“Does he even love me? Always scolding…” He mumbled and took the key with a pout that could reach the floor.

Chan was sulking through the whole ride home.

Even after they arrived home, he quietly went to his room and Seungcheol walked into the kitchen to cook dinner.

Seungcheol was a terrible cook before he married Chan and learned how to cook from his mother-in-law. It’s been a year but he still visits her sometimes to help her make some side dishes.

He was smiling ear to ear like an idiot, remembering the way Chan exclaimed when he tasted the kimchi he made. If any of his students saw him, they probably would’ve freaked out to see the strictest teacher in school grinning like an idiot and called an ambulance. Bet some of them would’ve even fainted if they found out the number one troubled student was the reason.

“Come eat dinner, love.” He shouted after making the table.

Chan walked into the kitchen with a pout and stomped his way towards the chair.

“Is my baby mad?”

“No.”

“Hm, sure.. Come on,” He sat down with open arms and patted on his lap.

Chan stomped his way again and angrily sat down on the older’s lap.

“You’re so so so mean! You always embarrass me in front of other people! You can’t be mean to me when your twenty-three years old *butt* wooed a minor!”

Seungcheol held a spoon in front of him.

“Stop whining and eat your food, idiot!”

Chan shot him a cold (cute) glance and bit the spoonful of rice in his husband’s hand while Seungcheol thought of a way to increase his grade.

Chapter Text

“Jeong Yunho.”

Seungcheol handed out test papers and the students were.. well, you could say they were ‘NERVOUS.’

No, not nervous but ‘NERVOUS.’ in capital letters with a dramatic dot in the end.

Everyone knew better than to fail Mr. Choi’s tests. If they do, they can forget about going to a university ‘cause it was the Choi Seungcheol they were talking about. Heck, they’d be lucky if he didn’t deduct points from their overall GPA.

But of course, there was one person who couldn’t care less.

“Lee Chan, congratulations! The only one who didn’t pass my test. Differing from others is another advantage!”

Chan got up to receive his test paper.

“Thank you, sir! I’ll keep up the good work in the future too!”

Dino tried to turn around and leave when Seungcheol gave him a good whack on the top of his head with the papers left in his hand. The class filled with laughter as poor Chan wrapped his hand around the pain and leered at him.

Not sleeping together tonight!

“You’re going to be homeless in the future if you keep up this junk, Lee Chan! Consider yourself lucky if you can even get into a low-quality university!”

Oh, he was lucky. What else is lucky if not marrying the teacher even the other teachers are scared of in your school?

“But teacher, Chan is handsome and talented! His future is brighter than my forehead!”

“Yeah, there’s no way he’d be jobless!”

The girls in his class started defending him and Dino’s face was splattered with a smug, victory smile.

“Open your textbooks!”

Seungcheol smacked the teachers’ desk with his wooden stick to quiet them.

“Dino, when are you going to get more brain cells and stop being so stupid?”

His deskmate started bothering him again with pungent words. He was smart. But for some reason, he just didn’t use it in school. Seungcheol tries to be hard on him to improve his abilities but see, it’s not exactly working.

“Shut the fuck up, Chaeyoun!” He whispered back.

She was probably the only girl in this school who hated him and the reason? Because she’s an evil witch!

“Admit that you’re the dumbest person in this school!”

He gripped his hand into a knuckle. He had never and would never hit a girl. But Chaeyoun was one sly snake!

“You two take your bags and get out.” Seungcheol said coldly when he lost his last straw.

Chan didn’t try talking back. His fault or not, he always ends up getting blamed ‘cause of her anyway.

They knelt down and hovered their backpacks over their head. It was habitual at this point.

“Why do you hate me so much?” He checked his surroundings before dropping his arms.

“I don’t hate you, you’re just fun to tease. I hate Mr. Choi’s class anyway. I definitely won’t pass if I ditch, but it’s fine when he’s the one dismissing us!”

“Then stop dragging me down too! Besides, Is there even any student who likes his class? No, because it’s fucking math.”

Chaeyoun threw her head down, laughing.

But their arms rose right back up with their bags when they heard three light knocks on the window.

“By the way, Chan. We saw Mr. Choi’s wife yesterday!”

He sneered at her, “Wife? Bullshit!”

“No, really. You didn’t see it because you don’t stay for self-study, but everyone who stayed yesterday saw his wife. His eyes were sparklin’, I’ve never seen him smile like that!”

“S-Stop lying!”

“Ask Tzuyu from the other class if you don’t believe me! She even took a picture. His wife was gorgeous.”

“How do you even know if it’s his wife!?”

“He kissed her on the cheek! Isn’t that obvious enough?”

Chan suddenly stood up. Seungcheol gave him a warning but he didn’t care.

Cheating on me? How dare he! You’re done for tonight!

He rushed out with angry tear-filled eyes.

Usually, Chan makes dinner when Seungcheol is late. But this time, he cooked himself an instant noodle and called it a dinner.

Maybe he’s with that other woman of his. Who knows?

He didn’t even bother throwing his used pot in the sink and just left it on the table, plopping on the bed and facing the ceiling as soon as he was in their shared bedroom.

He was almost going nuts.

Fucking Choi Seungcheol! Getting bored this easy?!

Suddenly his eyes felt wet. He sniffled before wiping his tears with his sleeve but it didn’t help much with the overflowing tears that just kept falling.

Seungcheol finished grading sophomores’ notebooks. He hastefully put on his jacket to go home and see his angry husband.

He was the happiest man on earth until he heard the door of his room open. It was Beomgyu from second grade, known for being the next after Chan on the list of troublemakers who’re absolutely hated by every teacher but loved by fellow students. Except in this case, Cheol was head over heels for the one to occupy the first place in the list.

“Uhm.. Sir, can you check my assignment?”

“No, the deadline was yesterday. Now get out!”

“Teacher, please-”

He let out an annoyed huff.

“I said get out!”

The poor boy finally left and closed the door.

Seungcheol hated students like him. It irritated him when they postponed things and tried to leave him to deal with it.

He wasn’t as angry or devilish as they made him out to be, he just knew his boundaries and how to not let anyone overstep.

As he drove, he was thinking about what he’d done since yesterday that might’ve made Chan mad.

Maybe when he threw out the rotten peaches? No, Chan was probably sick of it anyway.

Or because he wasn’t an enterprising husband who didn’t think of getting him a pile of snacks when he didn’t even ask for it? Could be, but he just did that three days ago.

He couldn’t think of anything else.

When he stepped inside and took off his shoes, no one came to cling to him like a koala bear. He did feel a bit dejected at that but Chan was mad, it was no surprise.

“Ah this brat, even after I said instant noodles are bad..”

Seungcheol cleaned up the mess and put different sorts of cheesecakes along with green seedless grapes, and cans of honey flavored green teas on the table before sneaking into their bedroom.

Dino was on his phone, seemingly tired like he just woke up.

“Channie-yah, are you mad~?”

He was giving him the silent treatment. It must be very serious this time!

“I got you your favorite snacks?”

Chan kept shut.

Seungcheol’s rugged frown scared not only everyone in school but the principal too (Why do you think the avaricious principal Junmyeon decided to enlarge the seating capacity of the basketball court?). And to say that a man known for his acrid persona is trying his utmost to stay on Chan’s good side is… not so prideful for me to write.

“My love?”

Dino pushed away poor Cheol who tried to hug him from his back.

“I’m not sleeping together! Go sleep on the couch!”

“Channie, I’m not-“

“I said get out!”

These words were familiar. Karma really is a bitch, huh?

“Baby, at least eat your cake.”

“Go eat it with your wife, okay?!”

Now Seungcheol was really confused.

What wife?

Chapter Text

Seungcheol could barely move his stiff body up from the couch he slept on yesterday to peak at the clock. It wasn’t the worst sleep in his life, but definitely not the best, either.

Through the year they’ve been together, Cheol’s never been genuinely angry (‘No family relations on school territory!’) at him. But what Chan said yesterday was complete nonsense! In his ears, and now he was mad too.

He saw his idiot who usually (every other day) takes twenty minutes just to get up and another twenty minutes to get ready, already up and trying to find a matching accessory for his university blue Jordan.

Seungcheol can’t say he wasn’t surprised, but he couldn’t care as much. He’s mad at him right now.

They didn’t have breakfast together this time and drove to school, quietly sitting in each other’s angry presence.

Sometimes, Chan was too entitled to have everything to himself in his way. Seungcheol was already used to his behavior and knew how to get around with it.

But yesterday, Dino suddenly made up a wife from god knows where and denied his love for him. Cheol did everything to walk forward, he thought he made him understand how much he loved him.

“I’m going home after school.” Chan said and looked out the window while Seungcheol silently nodded. He understood that the home he meant was his parents’. He always threatened him with these words whenever he got sulky. But Seungcheol always found a way to make him stay. Chan’s heart ached that he just let him go without even a single word.

They parked behind the school and looked around their surroundings, then got out of the car. Of course, they can’t get caught by anyone.

“Dino, what’s wrong with you today?”

It was obviously weird for his friend, who had never been this down before, to zone out and stare at god knows what.

“If you’re not going to eat your lunch, give it to me.” Yeonjun pointed at Chan’s food and asked his still-zoned-out friend.

“Yeah, sure.”

Yeonjun and Wooyoung were flabbergasted, looking at their friend with a concerned look. Normally, he’d make a rug out of their skin if they touched his food.

“Something happened to you, right?”

Chan sighed, “What does it mean if one of the couple suddenly starts acting strange, getting mad like they never had before, and doesn’t even care if the other says to spend the night somewhere else?”

“Maybe they have someone else.” Wooyoung shrugged, bringing tears to Chan’s eyes. Does he really have some kind of connection with the woman?

“Hey, Chan! Hey! Hey?!”

Chan slammed his hands onto the table and stood up, took his bag from his class, and went to his parents’ house. His absence count was too high, but he didn’t care.

He thought Seungcheol would never leave him. He didn’t bother wiping his tears that were flowing non-stop.

Now thinking, Chan’d never said that he loves him. It was always Seungcheol who said it.

He got a big bucket of ice cream from the store below the apartment. His parents were working, hence the empty house. Throwing his bag on the ground, he turned on the television and started eating his ice cream. He didn’t have anything else to do to distract himself after all.

His phone rang, he didn’t give much thought about it when he picked it up and slid the green button.

“Why did you skip your classes?!”

Seungcheol sounded pretty angry and harsh that it scared him a little, but he didn’t want to back down.

“Why do you care so much?! You have someone else to care for!”

“Chan! Stop talking nonsense! When are you going to stop acting like a child?!”

“Oh, what do I do then? Who was the one that kept clinging to that child like a leech even though he said he didn’t love him?!”

“Wonderful Chan! You still think of me as a leech? I see you’re still the same Chan who didn’t love me.”

Seungcheol didn’t wait for an answer before hanging up, and for Chan, who’d never seen him this mad and ignorant, it hit him pretty hard that he threw his ice cream on the ground out of rage.

He kept wiping his tears that wouldn’t stop.

“Choi Seungcheol, call again!” He mumbled to himself and hugged his phone, sitting on the couch.

Soon enough, his phone rang again. He quickly wiped his tears again and picked it up.

“Hyung? I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-“

“Dino-yah, I’m Tzuyu from your other class.”

He suddenly regained his composure and looked at his screen to see an unknown number.

“There’s going to be a basketball championship with other schools next week. Mrs. Park told you to form your own team.”

“Ah… Okay.”

“Your voice doesn’t sound good. Sorry for bothering you.”

Chan let out a long sigh, “Tzuyu, can you send me the photos of Mr. Choi and his wife?”

“What wife? No one’s ever seen Mr. Choi’s wife.” Tzuyu replied with a confused tone.

“But Chaeyoun said students saw him kissing a woman on the cheeks a few days ago and that you even took photos of it.” Chan scrunched his face in distaste.

“That didn’t happen, though. Chaeyoun probably just lied about it. If Mr. Choi was seen with a woman, it probably would’ve been trending on the school’s website. Maybe Chaeyoun tricked you ‘cause she doesn’t like you.”

Chan stiffened. He really took some stupid girl’s words seriously enough to almost lose his husband? How could she lie to him like this? What did he ever do to her?!

He hurriedly cleaned up the melted ice cream and rushed out of the house. Cheol was really angry.

He started crying again, mad at Chaeyoun and himself. At why he impulsively made such decisions without thinking it through. At his stupid, overthinking brain.

On his way, he bought Seungcheol’s favorite snacks and drinks with his monthly allowance that his parents provided and ran home.

He immediately changed clothes once he was home and started cleaning. He couldn’t even remember when he last cleaned. Maybe a few months ago. But he remembered to shed a few tears while cleaning.

He spent the whole afternoon cleaning, cooking his favorite meals, and preparing the table. Now he only has his schoolworks to finish.

Chan called the girl whom he’d rejected months back then and collected all the notes he had to retake. Yeah, Cheol hyung will definitely stop being angry if I do this.

Chapter Text

“Teacher, I’m done grading the notebooks, what should I do now?” Yeri asked while stretching.

Seungcheol finally looked up from his desk and took off his glasses, “Copy the grades down to my journal.”

He sighed as he looked at the pile of notebooks in front of him. He’d only gone through only half of them, with the help of a student. Even this seems to make him mad.

Was I too harsh?

What do I do now?

Why would you let him go just like that? Dumbass!

He flicked his head with his pen.

He’s definitely not going to forgive me now, is he? He’ll probably not talk to me for at least a week! What am I going to do without him?

He looked straight ahead, the girl who was eyeing him weirdly from the beginning cleared her throat and went back to minding her own business.

“Yes… I should finish these quickly and go get him back!” He muttered under his breath and glanced at the clock, the lines showing 9 o’clock.

“Oh god, Yeri. Go home quickly, I didn’t know it was this late. How stupid of me?” Luckily, the student’s home was close to school, he thought.

“Okay, Mr. Choi.” Yeri’s tone had a hint of relief in it after hearing the words she waited for since the start. She rushed to grab her backpack with her rigid body that’s been sitting in the same spot for hours when she wasn’t even a teacher. She was groaning, walking to the door when the teacher suddenly called her.

“I apologize, really. I’ll buy you whatever you want tomorrow. I’m really sorry.”

He bowed, causing the student to shake her hands in front of him and bow too, repeating no’s and it’s okay’s.

After Yeri’s departure, he swiftly sat back and covered his face with the inside of his hands.

I worked too late. Guess I’ll do it tomorrow.

Seungcheol, to no surprise, found himself starving since he missed dinner. He packed the rest of the notebooks and drove home to work again.

After finishing his notes, Chan looked at the clock. He wanted to do his math too, but his classmate told him that Mr. Choi collected notebooks today and that she couldn’t send pictures of it, so he knew he was going to be late today.

He got up and started reheating the meals he’d prepared again. The boy sighed from time to time. How many times had he reheated these already?

After heating everything up, the door beeped seven times and opened. Chan ran to the entrance and stuck himself onto him like a koala, grinning happily.

“Hyung!”

“Chan?”

He started bawling his eyes out, his blabbers barely incoherent, but somehow Seungcheol understood it by picking up a few words.

“H-Hyung, I’m sorry… I’ll never do this again… Chan… dumbest… I love you hyung! I really do!”

It was unexpected for the older who was just thinking of apologizing. He instantly felt sourly petulant and pushed him away. No matter how older he was, he still had the right to be upset with him.

“You said you were going home. This is suddenly your home now?” He said gratingly and walked to his room with Chan following after him like a lost puppy.

“Hyung, please. I’m really sorry.”

He looked down and whispered, unconfident. Seugncheol wanted to go squeeze him in a hug straight away, but he held himself back.

“Are you!”

“H-Hyung, I made your favorites.”

Seungcheol changed into home clothes and entered the kitchen, he’d really made all of his favorites.

“You knew my favorites, huh? I thought you think I’m a leech.” Seungcheol teased him in a mocking tone and started eating.

“A-And I also bought your favorite snacks.”

Chan unpacked all kinds of sweets and chips from the grocery bag. Seungcheol rolled his eyes, “You think I’m a pig?”

The younger’s eyes almost brimmed with tears when he rejected the stuff he’d bought with all of his monthly allowance. But everything was his fault from the beginning, after all.

He stood there for a minute or two, eyes glued to the floor when Seungcheol seemed to have finished, wiping his mouth with a tissue while standing up. He went to their room, and Chan let out a big sigh before beginning to clean the mess.

“Maybe he’ll forgive me if I show him my notes…” He spoke indistinctly to himself and smiled softly.

After washing up, he went to their bedroom to see Seungcheol dressed in his pajamas.

“Hyung, I retook all the notes I missed. Do you want to take a look at them?” He quickly dug out his notebooks from his backpack.

Seungcheol shook his head no.

“You’re not going to forgive me even if I did this?” He said, tears almost spilling from the bang he felt in his chest.

“Who are you even doing that for, if not yourself?” He gave him a chuckle and tried to leave the room with his pillow tucked between his arms.

Chan stopped him midway, “W-Where are you going?”

“To the couch! From what I remember, you don’t want to sleep on the same bed.”

“No, that’s not true!”

Chan started crying from the bottom of his heart. He felt a pain he’d never felt before. One that makes him think, ‘Is this how he feels when I ignore him?’ He hated himself for all the times he’d done this to him.

“H-Hyung,” he wiped his face, “What do I have to do,” he sniffled, “T-To make you forgive me?”

“Get above seventy five on next week’s test! Then I’ll forgive you.”

“T-That’s impossible!”

“Then I’ll just accept that you don’t love me—“

“O-Okay! Okay, I’ll do it!”

With a smile on his face, Seungcheol handed him the pillow he was holding, “And go sleep on the couch. You’ve never slept there before.”

Chan looked at him, surprised. With a sigh, he pulled out a blanket from the closet and dragged his feet to the couch.

After rolling and tossing awake all night, Seungcheol sat up. He, in fact, was sickeningly worried about Chan.

He burst out of the room (sue his impatience), gaze landing on his lover sleeping too uncomfortably, perhaps due to his height.

“Idiot, you always banish me like this. How does it feel?”

He softly whispered while hooking two arms under him. Cheol carried him to the bed, landing him gently on top of it.

He slipped in next to him and embraced him tightly. He found that he seemed to have cried again by the tears still visible on his face and his grim face.

Seungcheol dried his tears and kissed him here and there. Then he squeezed him again,

“How will I last until the test?”

Chapter Text

Chan took a deep breath and slowly walked over to a boy sitting alone in the corner with a smile. You could see how hard it all was by his hand gripping the lunch plate firmly.

“Hey? Soobin.”

He awkwardly sat down facing him, and the boy stared at him with wide eyes in pure disbelief.

“It’s okay if I sit here, right?”

Soobin quickly nodded his head twice when he asked politely.

“Chan, w-why would you—sit here?”

Soobin looked nervous but amazed, blushing furiously. How does Chan know his name?

Along with his two misfit friends, Chan always fell right into the category of popular boys. It was impossible for him, who never even talked to other students but somehow was always in conflict with Chaeyoung, to suddenly go up to an outcast of the school AND eat together. It not only surprised the boy, but the whole school too.

But he was only thinking about how he could get Soobin to teach him math. The test is next week. That’s why, after searching for someone to tutor him urgently, he’d found Soobin. He just found out the boy’s called the school’s ace in mathematics a moment ago.

“Soobin, to be frank, I need you to teach me math. Please help me get an eighty on next week’s test!”

From the perspectives of other students, he snapped his hands together out of nowhere that it startled everyone in the cafeteria.

“Chan, w-why so sudden-“

“Please help me get a C minus! D-Dad won’t forgive me if I don’t!”

“O-Okay, I’ll help.”

Chan seemed relaxed at the news and put down his hands.

“But Chan, your base knowledge is bad. I’m not sure if you can get above C minus. Plus, Mr. Choi never reveals the topics to study for a test. Meaning you have to practice everything. And using a formula, cheating is off-limits! I’m sorry Chan, but it’s really difficult.”

“I’ll try hard, so please help me!”

“Alright. I’ll tutor you.”

Even though he’d gotten a reliable teacher, he couldn’t help but worry, what if he don’t pass?

Soon enough, his annoyingly loud friends came screaming and sat down on their table. Chan didn’t want to talk to them, so he ate in silence. He sighed from time to time, and kept sending Soobin hopeful looks.

“Yah! Lee Dino, why are you eating here?” Wooyoung asked, ruffling his hair as Chan pushed his hand away with a frown.

“Wooow! Mr. Choi is buying Yeri the most expensive meal on the menu!”

As Yeonjun shouted, everyone’s attention shifted from them to their math teacher.

Mr. Choi was smiling while the girl expressed her gratitude. The students who saw many shocking things at the cafeteria today weren’t quiet either.

“Damn, the way they look at each other is suspicious~” Yeonjun mocked with a smile.

Wooyoung smirked, “Yeri is always helping Mr. Choi. Maybe he’s more attracted to a pretty teenage girl than his wife… oh my god, look at that smile!”

Chan sat there for a while, gritting his teeth, then opened his mouth. “What do you mean always?!”

“You don’t know? Mr. Choi always calls Yeri to grade tests and notebooks. They’re always in the same room. Maybe other things are going on in there!”

Chan impatiently stood up with a thud and walked rapidly towards them. The smile Seungcheol had a second ago was wiped off his face.

Chan scowled as he walked past them, purposefully shouldering the girl and knocking over her tray. A loud screech from the girl filled the cafeteria, poor girl had gotten burnt by the hot food.

“LEE CHAN! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”

Seungcheol yelled at him with a face full of anger.

Chan suddenly started regretting what he did. He just wanted to make her dump the food, but he didn’t know it would spill on her. He didn’t mean to hurt her.

But the girl was still screaming and sobbing because of the red burns on her naked leg. Seungcheol lifted the girl up and pushed past Chan.

The entire cafeteria became crowded with motions again as the students started to run their mouths about the accident.

Chan quickly left the hall, trying his best not to cry. He rushed to get his backpack. How could he face anyone after all this?

The brown hair could feel remorse settling beneath his skin. All of this… felt so wrong. He just injured a girl.

He was barely holding back his tears as he walked through the schoolyard when somebody side-hugged him by the neck.

“Hey, nutbrain!”

Maybe because she’s short and hanging on him, it was pissing him off even more. On top of that, she was the one who started all of this. If only she hadn’t lied, he wouldn’t have to go through all of this.

“Get lost!”

Chaeyoun fell to the ground, but Chan didn’t think he pushed her that hard when she stood back up right away and chased his pace.

“You really humiliated that girl back there!”

Chan didn’t reply.

“Did you figure out my lie?”

The boy’s speed got furiously faster.

“Dino, I just wanted to check something. And I did it. You like Mr. Choi, right?”

Chan froze when he heard her. Did she really suspect and figure out everything?

“Just… Dino, your eyes tell everything. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the way you look at Mr. Choi.”

“Chaeyoun, promise me you’ll never tell anyone!”

He didn’t have anything else to say. Of course, he loves him. He’s his husband.

“That’s unfortunate. Mr. Choi has a wife! Everybody has someone they can never have. Maybe you can find someone better. I’m like you… now you know my secret, and I know yours too!”

Oh, he can see it clearly now. She’s not straight either! That’s why he thought she was different. She was the only woman he ever spoke to more than twice, excluding his mom.

They went their separate ways.

Somehow, Chan feels like giving up on everything. He could still see Seungcheol’s terrifyingly cold and scary gaze.

He packed a few days’ clothes and went to his parents’ home.

He was welcomed to an empty house of unused rooms. It was always like this. His parents worked tirelessly every day when he was younger, and it seemed to have stayed the same now that he’s grown.

Seungcheol excused himself early, but not to return home. Chan’s there. It’ll probably be flooded with an unpleasant atmosphere.

In the end, he called his brother. He wanted a drink and talk, perhaps get a few advices too.

He grabbed his coat and locked his office, thinking about Yeri’s well-being as he walked out of the school gate. If the meal was sauced then she’ll get blisters. And a scar too. Why did Chan do something like this?

Cheol parked at the empty space next to an alcohol wagon. The smell of soju hit him instantly.

“Hey, hyung.”

He smiled and hugged his older brother, managing to utter a few words about how much he missed him.

“How’s my brother-in-law?” Minho poured a cup for himself while asking.

“He’s doing well.” Cheol sighed.

Minho knew immediately that they had a fight.

“Of course, you wanted to drink because you two fought. Now what happened?” Minho chuckled and poured his little brother a glass. But a small amount. He can’t go to his little husband drunk.

Seungcheol told him about everything that’d been happening recently with details. Minho wistfully sat quietly through it.

“I was surprised when I found out you fell in love with a sixteen-year-old boy. Only sixteen! And you were what, twenty-three? A sixteen-year-old who didn’t even know his sexual orientation, didn’t even have time to explore it before you fell head over heels and chased after him! Do you remember how hard Mom and Dad despised you for it? Even I tried to talk you out of it a couple of times, called you a pedophile, perverted, disgusting piece of shit. Chan didn’t like you either. Then I saw how hard you were trying, how ready you were to give up everything you ever loved before, and that you really loved him a million times more than you loved us. He’s seven years younger than you, seven years! You stole his teenage years away, Cheol-ah. You made him step foot into adulthood way too early. He doesn’t go out with his friends in case you think he cheated on you. He doesn’t even talk to girls! Who doesn’t talk to girls in high school? You got in his way when he was at the age to be having fun. He can be at his own will all he wants. That’s how he should be. Because he’s a whole seven years younger than you! You have no right to hurt him or make him cry. You took his everything because of your greed. Even his heart. So why are you making him suffer like this? When even just loving him isn’t enough. You should be loving him even more!”

Minho wrapped an arm around him, allowing the tears to soak through the white fabric and on his shoulder.

Chapter Text

Minho didn’t let him drink much, so Seungcheol came home nearly sober. He looked around his dark home and came to the conclusion that Chan was sleeping.

He missed him too much after not having seen him for only a few hours. He took off his shoes and rushed to their bedroom, a made bed exactly like how he had seen in the morning welcomed him.

Sighing heavily, Seungcheol walked over to his closet. He saw empty shelves instead of the clothes Chan always made sure to fold neatly.

He grabbed his phone and called him with the contact named ‘Idiot Husband’, but his call was declined. And again. And again. He was sick of hearing the dialing ringtone that he never used to hear for long before.

Then he called his parents-in-law who treats him better than anyone. They helped him the most when he was trying to court Chan. They loved him more, or better than his own parents.

“Hey! Mom.”

“Of course, sweetheart.” Mrs. Lee said in her usual liveliness and sighed, “Chan said he won’t go back for a few days. So there’s no way we can do anything about it. I’m sorry, honey.”

Mrs. Lee’s voice carried a little sadness. Seungcheol hung up after comforting her for a moment with ‘Please wait patiently until then.’

Seungcheol looked around in the dark room, the same look of fear and shock earlier engraved in his mind, visible to his eyes.

Cheol looked cold, but one’s beauty is only skin deep. Most of the people around him, his relatives, parents, and teachers criticized him for his callous look since he was younger. The first time he met Chan, the boy was quivering in fear. But today in the cafeteria, he felt insanely regretful seeing the same look again.

After sitting in tears for a while, without even changing his work clothes, he grabbed the pillow Chan always lay on and attempted to sleep. All the memories he made with him flashed through in a split second, tears flowing uncontrollably.

Seungcheol broke the hearts of many girls. The kind of person who looked at them emotionlessly all the time, that was him. But now, he was feeling the same ache from when he was rejected on the spot by Chan after he confessed.

He remembered how his parents hated him, beat him up for falling in love with a kid. After going through so much trouble, he didn’t know why he was so hard on Chan. He didn’t understand why he’d forgotten all of this.

What if they indeed were not suitable?

They got married in the face of many’s objections. He was finally able to call Chan his, after going through multiple rejections and tears.

What if the love that really didn’t belong to him, was forced to be his?

After school, Chan went to the library where he had been sitting in for the past few days. For someone who’d never gone to a library, it all seemed like hell.

While searching around for Soobin, he saw Seungcheol. Upon seeing him, he turned back around and left the library straight away. He only saw him during classes for the past few days. On the weekends, he didn’t leave his old room at all.

Today was Monday, and the test was on Thursday. He swore that he wouldn’t exchange a single word with Seungcheol in the meantime. But in the end, he couldn’t help but realize how much he missed him.

He texted Soobin, ‘Let’s study at the cafe nearby. I’ll buy you coffee!’ and arrived at a small cafe next to the school.

On the last study session, Soobin cursed him out so much that Chan almost died from terror. He was like the devil himself when he got angry. Not understanding a math problem wasn’t his fault. It was his brain’s fault.

They also did video call lessons on the weekends. Soobin’s parents are the strict type, so he couldn’t go out on weekends. Chan had never been so thankful for a screen because if Soobin could, he would’ve beat him to a pulp through the screen.

Soon, the grumpy tutor came and they started studying their asses off.

“Dino! Again, again! Why do you keep adding them when I keep telling you to multiply them?!”

Soobin furrowed his brows and repeated the same sentence he’d said ten times. Chan silently marveled at his stupidity. He deemed himself pretty good at other subjects, but he wonders why his brain just clicks off when it comes to mathematics.

Soobin took a test from him today and Chan got sixty-five. Chan almost cried out of joy. The highest number he’d ever seen!

“Chan, if you keep up your hard work, I think you’ll get more than eighty percent next week.” Soobin said, licking the ice cream Chan’d bought while walking together.

Chan was the happiest man alive. Finally, he can look at his husband with pride!

He still felt bad towards Yeri, though. But her injury was only a bruise, and she was walking fine and healthy two days later. He was feeling remorseful, even now.

The good thing is that Chaeyoun and he got closer. Meaning, they stopped bickering as much and he was happy that he made a female friend. Chaeyoun told him about a girl in another class, and that she doesn’t even look in her way. But Chan couldn’t give any advice, so he just listened. All people need sometimes is a person to listen after all.

Finally, after three days, it was the day of the test and every student put their belongings in their backpacks. Mr. Choi was known for his strictness during tests and exams, thus everyone was tense as if they were giving the national entrance exam.

Seungcheol’s face looked even more dejected than before and it killed Chan to see him like this. The feeling of longing burned stronger.

When Seungcheol came over to Chan, handing out his paper, they stared at each other for a moment too long. Their eyes were brimming with sadness.

Chan looked away first, and Seungcheol continued handing out the papers.

“It will deduct points from your overall grade, so try hard kids. Time starts now.”

A huge smile spread upon Chan’s face when he opened his test paper.

“No matter what score you get, I’ve already forgiven you so come back, love. I love you and good luck, Choi Chan♡”

Chapter Text

Seungcheol glanced at the clock, walking through every branch and watching every student. Except for the teacher’s shoes clacking on the floor, not even a fly could be heard.

He looked at Chan from time to time, and Chan was concentrating like he never did before. Seungcheol was surprised that he didn’t even raise his head, eyes glued to the paper in front of him.

Usually, Chan wouldn’t even take a glance at the questions, occasionally winking at him. But he reeked of determination this time.

The bell rang soon enough and the students exclaimed. Soobin was already done, looking at Chan with concern, who wasn’t done just yet. Seungcheol saw this and collected the papers as slowly as possible. He still wasn’t finished when he came to collect his in the end, so he walked back to his desk and sat down.

Other students looked at him, envious that Mr. Choi mercilessly snatched theirs away but giving Dino special treatment.

After a while, Chan raised his head joyfully. He was surprised to see the classroom empty and looked forward to see Seungcheol staring at him with a grin. In fact, it was a very big and proud grin. His husband really tried hard.

Chan quickly picked up his bag, giving his paper to him as he left. Seungcheol wanted to hug and kiss him but Soobin was at the door, waiting for Chan. He uttered curses in his mouth, but no one heard him.

Soobin immediately punched him in the arm when he came out of the classroom.

“Yah, you were so awesome! You solved it all, right? But Mr. Choi really cut you a slack today!”

Chan laughed and nodded, promising to get him whatever he wanted. It was all thanks to him, after all.

“Hey, Dino! Did you forget about us ‘cause you made another friend?”

Chaeyoun, Wooyoung, and Yeonjun were also waiting for him, mad that he walked away with Soobin without seeing them.

“Oh guys, sorry. I was too excited!”

Wooyoung, with a weird look on his face, stepped in front of him, “Did your dad scare you that much? I was actually surprised when I saw you!”

Chan looked down with a nod, happy that everyone was praising him. Plus, Seungcheol smiled at him so beautifully!

“You said you’d buy Soobin anything he wants, so buy it for us too!” Chaeyoun said with her usual demanding tone and Chan nodded with a smile, since his parents gave him more pocket money yesterday. He was sure he couldn’t stop smiling today.

They went to a street food stall and bought waffled ice creams and cotton candies. The taste made them all exclaim in delight.

And soon enough, Chan was back at his parents’ house. He screamed, as if he was throwing out everything that’d accumulated, and collapsed on the couch.

Oh, how excited he was by the small writing on the test paper. He wanted to run around screaming but the circumstances said otherwise. Test anxiety had flown out the window as soon as he laid his eyes on it.

He quickly did his homeworks for tomorrow and packed his clothes. It was already late evening when his parents came home. Chan shoved his works into his backpack and stepped out of his room.

“Mom! I’m going to my husband tomorrow! Pack us a lot of side dishes! And even more kimchi. My husband loves your kimchi!”

Mrs. Lee laughed at that, more relieved than anyone that they made up somehow unbeknownst to her.

Mr. Lee also took out the bottle of alcohol he’d been planning to give his son-in-law and gave it to Chan. He recently decided to give the bottle he’d been hiding from even himself to his son-in-law.

“Stop bothering my precious son-in-law, Choi Chan! You try coming back again if you dare!”

“Be good to your son, Dad! Because he’ll never come back again!”

Chan was over the moon, jumping around, unable to hold back his excitement. He couldn’t wait to hear the results tomorrow and go back to his husband.

Without his mother having to wake him, Chan was already up and clothed, brushing his hair back with a bit of gel for the first time in a few days.

He hoped for somewhere between seventy and eighty. Soobin asked if he wanted to compare their answers but he was too scared.

He put his mom’s side dishes in the same bag where he put his clothes in and promised to come back and get them.

Everyone at school was looking at him differently than before. Ever since Yeri’s accident, he started noticing weird looks from others. It was even uploaded on the school site. And people were also confused when he started hanging around Soobin. Hopefully, it won’t last long.

Chan was already used to all of this. He walked to the classroom hurriedly, greeting his friends as he walked in. He couldn’t sit still during classes and math was their last period, so waiting was like torture.

When the bell rang at lunchtime, they went to the cafeteria together. Actually, Wooyoung and Yeonjun were reluctant to hang out with Soobin and Chaeyoun, but Chaeyoun forced them to agree with it. In the end, they couldn’t refuse.

“Dino looks even more handsome today. Your forehead looks brighter than my future… damn it!” Chaeyoun said while glaring at his forehead, and Soobin agreed.

“Soobin, you should care for your looks more! My… shouldn’t nerds take care of their appearance too?”

Wooyoung said, chuckling, as Yeonjun disagreed, “If Soobin stopped wearing glasses and unbuttoned the few top buttons of his shirt, he’ll be prettier than you, dumbass!”

They went back to the classroom, messing around with each other. Finally, in the end, it was Seungcheol’s class. He came in holding what seemed to be the graded test papers.

All of the students were ‘NERVOUS.’ in capital letters with a dramatic dot at the end. But this time, Chan was nervous too.

Although Seungcheol reassured him, he wouldn’t forgive himself if he got below seventy.

Soon, their names were called one by one. Chan’s hands were sweating, barely capable of sitting still. Chaeyoun, who witnessed it, couldn’t stop laughing.

His heart rate was on max, he still didn’t hear his name. But then, “Lee Chan.”

Chan jumped at the sound of his name and quickly walked over to grab his test paper. After taking it, he couldn’t look at it. He couldn’t relax with the bundle of anxiety inside his chest.

“Okay, I hope everyone knows your grades will be calculated by this score. Students who aren’t happy with their scores can turn in their assignments next week. And congratulations to the students who got full marks, Lee Chan and Choi Soobin!”

Silence took over for three seconds.

Then everything erupted into chaos.

Chan’s eyes widened and flipped over the paper to see that there were no mistakes. The classroom was filled with screams and shouts. Soobin ran over to check his paper and found that there were really no mistakes. The students’ jaws were still on the ground.

“OH MY GOD!”

It was Chan who yelled this time. He felt like a three-time Olympic golden medalist.

The students talked about it until class ended, while Chaeyoun still couldn’t believe it. Wooyoung and Yeonjun kept chattering about it, and Soobin kept repeating how proud he was while also praising himself. He tutored him after all!

“Let’s all just get lessons from Soobin!” Yeonjun concluded after a serious thinking.

This isn’t a dream, right?

Chan came to his parents’ house, picked up his bag, and went home as fast as possible. No one could imagine how happy he was right now.

Seungcheol wouldn’t be home until evening, so he started cleaning his dust-drenched house. He was surprised to find a bunch of alcohol bottles. His husband drank a lot while he was gone, huh?

He was almost finished when the door clicked open. He threw away the rug he was holding and ran to the entrance.

Chan jumped onto him, Seungcheol dropped his bag, and hugged him back.

“Missed… so much.”

Seungcheol’s embrace was tight, like he never wanted to lose him again and Chan started sobbing. Seungcheol slightly pulled away and pecked him on the lips, causing Chan to chuckle.

“I’m so proud of you, Chan. My wonderful boy.”

Chan pulled away and kissed him here and there, “I’m going to retake all the time we missed! Now, carry me to the bed!”

He finally made it. He’d like to believe he made him realize how much he loves him.

Chapter Text

Seungcheol was unpacking Chan’s bag, “Baby, what is this?”

They fell asleep together immediately yesterday. And now, after just waking up, they were tidying up the house.

“Dad told me to give it to you.”

Seungcheol inspected the bottle for a moment and his eyes sparkled, “It looks like a good one. Maybe we can drink it together when you’re 21.”

Chan nodded, “It was inherited from my grandpa’s grandpa. They probably drank half of it together. I guess it was destined for you and not me.”

Honestly, Chan was a bit jealous. His Dad gave this precious thing to his son-in-law…. Ah, maybe it’s a precious thing for a precious person. Whatever.

Seungcheol put the bottle on the bed and continued unpacking, to find Chan’s underwear. He smiled, “We’re almost the same size. I think we can share it sometimes. Should we just use it between us?”

Chan rolled his eyes at Seungcheol, who holding his underwear an inch away from his face, and snatched it away.

“Stop making me embarrassed!”

Chan said while covering his face and Seungcheol’s smile grew more playful, “Has yours grown? How big? I want to check it out someday.”

“W-What are you talking about?!”

Their first intimacy was on their honeymoon after Chan just turned seventeen. Even then, they couldn’t go all the way because they’d agreed on not going all the way until he was an adult. But Chan was already 18 now.

Seungcheol immediately approached him with a smirk and kissed him. Chan didn’t know what to do, he wasn’t ready!

But he didn’t want to pull away after Cheol’s tongue wrapped around his, and he kissed him back. Seungcheol quickly lifted him up and firmly placed him on the bed. They made out impatiently and Seungcheol was barely controlling himself. How long did he wait?

Soon, the sound of glass breaking overpowered the kissing sounds and they returned to their sane mind. They looked at the broken glass bottle with wide eyes.

“What do we do?!”

They couldn’t help but exclaim after breaking what they hadn’t even tasted yet.

“Hyung, what now?! Dad’ll go crazy if he finds out!” Chan felt insanely guilty after breaking the bottle of alcohol that’d been inherited for four generations. He just stared at the spilled liquor.

“What do we do, Chan?!”

“Why’re you asking me?! You’re the older one!”

“Age doesn’t matter in this!”

“Your in-law career’s going to flop if he finds out.” Chan said mockingly and brought a towel. He cleaned up the mess while Seungcheol was thinking about ways to hide all of this.

“Forget it, hyung! Dad loves you!”

Seungcheol rolled on the bed and shook his head.

“Hey! Aren’t you going to reward me? Your favorite student got a 100!”

Seungcheol suddenly got up, “Right! My love… I remember crying while grading your paper.”

Chan chuckled, “Cried? So cute… You’re proud of me, right! Your idiot isn’t going to be homeless!” and slipped into his lap.

“Who tutored you, love?”

Seungcheol caressed his hand and Chan began talking. He told him about all the time he spent with Soobin. Cheol was jealous, of course, but he listened quietly, not wanting to ruin this moment. But he was jealous nonetheless. Chan was talking about another man to his husband so happily. Then he started talking about Chaeyoun. Seungcheol took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

It’s normal, Seungcheol. A teen talking about girls. It happens.

Seungcheol thought to himself, and held Chan’s hand again, kissing him on the head. However, Chan didn’t seem to notice this and started talking about Wooyoung and Yeonjun. This time, he lost his patience and threw Chan’s head from his arms.

“We should have breakf- I mean lunch.”

Seungcheol said seriously, but Chan just nodded, he didn’t seem to think it was that serious.

Calm down, Seungcheol. Remember what Minho hyung said. Don’t even think about revenge. Revenge, revenge, revenge…

Seungcheol drew a long breath.

“CHOI CHAN, YOU LOVE ME, RIGHT?!” He yelled from the kitchen.

Chan came out of the bedroom with a smile, “I love you! So much! You’re my husband!”

Yeah, he loves me. Calm down.

Chan ran his fingers through his hair, glaring at a guy, who was shooting the ball at the hoop, with eyes that could kill.

“Look at the fucking basket!!”

His yelling startled all the girls who only came to see him. But they were already used to this side of him.

Chan was a talented player with a silver medal from the National Basketball Championship. He’d always loved basketball, ever since childhood. He recently took a break from practicing, but the male championship between schools is near.

He always picked out the best players from each class and trained them himself. He got worked up whenever he trained them, and this side of him was already well-known at school.

“Dino, calm down.” Wooyoung slapped his shoulder, and Chan nodded with the frown still evident on his brows.

“How about Changbin from E? He’s pretty good.”

“No way! I broke his nose last time!”

“Then Mingi?”

“Dino already fought him too!”

Chan shook his head and sat on the bench, girls giving him water and towels.

“Heard there’s a new kid in B. We can ask him.” Yeonjun said, everyone agreeing.

They started practicing again, the girls leaving one by one and it was just the basketball team left. Fortunately, the girls’ championship was held during autumn, so no one was there to occupy the court. The downside is that they won, which leaves great expectations to reach for the boys.

“PASS IT ON!”

Chan was frustrated that the boy kept playing by himself. Wiping the sweat from his temple with the back of his hand, furrowing his brows even more, and his tongue pressed against his cheeks just showed how angry he was.

Finally, when the ball was passed onto Chan, he threw it at the boy instead of the basket. He was furious that the team wasn’t doing as well as how he wanted.

“Aye, man. Why so grumpy?”

Everyone looked at where the voice came from and saw Seungcheol standing.

Chan instantly ran to him with a cute smile. Then he dragged his husband to the changing room, locking the door with a click.

“Who is making my boy angry? Should I beat them up?” Seungcheol said, wiping his sweat with a towel.

Chan pouted, “I don’t know… It’s whatever.”

Seungcheol kissed his pouty lips and gave him a spare shirt. Chan’s shirt was drenched with sweat. Chan smiled more adorably and demanded more kisses, and who was Seungcheol to refuse? He pecked him again and again until they were forced to stop by the knocks on the door.

And as if nothing happened, they stood away from each other, secretly exchanging glances.

Chapter Text

Normally, Seungcheol was busy even on the weekends. But not this time, he actually had time on his hands.

And he decided to kill time by changing the position of the couch. As he was doing so, panting, Chan came out wearing his training clothes with a backpack dangling over his shoulder.

“I’m going to practice!”

“Sure, love.”

Seungcheol kissed him and went back to what he was doing. The placement of this couch had been bothering him lately. He felt like it’d be better with a little change.

“Then… I…”

Seungcheol looked at him, bemusedly. Chan kept muttering nothing and fidgeting.

“Tell me. What is it?”

Seungcheol sat on the separated couch, as he wasn’t done yet, and looked at Chan with seriousness.

“I…”

“Yeah?”

“After practice…”

“Mhm?”

Seungcheol found it annoying that he kept dragging each word, but waited patiently.

On the other hand, Chan was a little intimidated by his serious look. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, “Can I go watch a movie with my friends?”

Seungcheol was startled by the loudness, but he couldn’t not laugh. He is too cute. Choi Chan is too cute!

“Sure, love. Don’t be late.”

“OKAY!”

Chan gave him a quick kiss and skipped out of the house. Seungcheol couldn’t help but keep smiling.

Then he moved the small separate couch, chuckling at the bunch of random trash he saw under it and wondering when Chan will stop doing this.

That is until he saw something else. His eyes widened in an instant, then he frowned. Look at who was hiding what from him!

“Little brat, hiding cigarettes and a condom from me?”

Chan was wearing his shoes when Wooyoung came crashing into him. Chan grimaced at his stupidity and pushed him.

“You’ve gotten pretty close with Mr. Choi. Did he start liking you after you aced the test?”

“What?”

“What do you mean what? You guys were in the changing room together with a locked door yesterday.”

Chan panicked and looked away, scared of Wooyoung’s smirking face. Did he get suspicious? If he did, then Chan had no idea how to explain it.

Yesterday was the first time Seungcheol came to his practice. Chan was too excited to mind other things.

“He just wanted to tell me a few things about the championship. Y-Yeah, none of your business.”

Wooyoung squinted, “Wait!”

“W-Wait what?”

“You!”

Chan gulped.

“Did you secretly increase your grade without us?!”

“NO WAY!”

Wooyoung started laughing at Chan’s overly wide eyes.

“Just kidding, dimbo… By the way, the new kid was in the Nationals.”

Chan stopped tying his laces and gaped at him.

Wooyoung just smiled, “You probably know him since you guys played on the same team. Our school’s in for another gold.”

He was perplexed. Who did he mean?

“He’s here!”

Chan looked at the entrance to see a boy coming towards him with a grin.

“What’s up, Chan?”

The guy came running, punched him on the shoulder, and hooked him by the neck. Chan pushed him away in surprise.

“Vernon hyung! You’re here?!”

“Oh yeah…It just kinda happened.”

Chan scowled when Vernon grinned and punched him on the shoulder again. They weren’t that close though.

Vernon was a very open person. It didn’t mean he was friendly. He just didn’t have any secrets. Everyone in his old team knew he was gay and he wasn’t ashamed of it. He left the team by choice last year, saying he didn’t want to play anymore. He was a hyung because of his late start in school.

“Why so cold to your long lost brother?”

“Did you want to join the team?”

“Yeah, wanted to have a little fun.”

They started practicing with no other conversations.

It amazed Chan that Vernon’s ability was exactly the same. Didn’t he say he hasn’t played since last year?

Even today, Chan was shouting across the court because the team wasn’t up to his standards.

On the benches, Soobin and Chaeyoun were already regretting coming in.

They planned on watching a movie, so the two came early and decided to watch them while waiting. But now, Chan was really frightening them. Even Wooyoung and Yeonjun had on the coldest faces the two had ever seen on them before.

Chaeyoun suddenly felt small. These guys don’t let her bully them because she’s strong but because she’s a girl. However, Chaeyoun felt a tiny sense of pride in her ability to judge characters that her friends weren’t jerks.

“Chaeyoun, I’m scared.”

“You think I’m not?”

They wanted to get out without attracting any attention when they heard a voice mocking them.

“The fuck are these idiots doing here?” A blonde guy, who they assumed was another team player, said, sneering.

The three only now seemed to notice the other two.

“Fuck off, Donghyuck! Say that again and watch what happens!” Chan raged, grabbing him by the collar.

“Aye aye, Chan!” Vernon interfered before anything happened.

“Guys! We didn’t know you were here. Why didn’t you call us?”

Chan and Yeonjun came running, while Wooyoung walked slowly after them.

“Uh, uhm… W-We’ll just wait outside.” Chaeyoun still remembered their cold faces.

“Nah, we’re finished. Let’s get out.” Yeonjun looked at Soobin, laughing while the other avoided his eyes.

“Heard you guys are getting lessons from Soobin. How’s it going?” Chan asked, curious as he sipped on the orange juice he just bought.

“Unspeakable! He flicked us every time we couldn’t solve the problem! The horror!”

The three of them replied almost immediately, making Chan and Soobin laugh at them.

“Good, he beat me too.”

“Wow, Dino gets beat up instead of doing the beating. Shouldn’t this be an article on the school site?” Wooyoung sneered.

“Anyways, I’m never going to do lessons with him again.” Yeonjun glared at Soobin, who glared back.

“How’d you get out of the house, Soobin? I thought your parents don’t let you out on the weekends.”

“Chaeyoun sneaked me out.”

They joked around with each other on the way, talking about insignificant things until they arrived at the cinema. They decided to get into two groups for the popcorn line and the ticket line.

Yeonjun and Chan were assigned to the ticket duty with the longest line.

“Oh, Dino! When can you give me back the stuff I asked you to keep?”

“What stuff?”

“You know, the stuff I told you to hold onto.”

Chan tried to dig the memory out from the roots of his brain, and realized, “At home! I hid it under the couch and completely forgot about it!”

“Under the couch?”

The couch… under.

Chan dropped the backpack in his bag on the ground and ran as fast as he could, disappearing into the crowd. Yeonjun shouted after him but was left helpless.

He didn’t know how long he had run unconsciously but he was already home. He pressed numbers into the automatic door and pulled the door open.

The house was creepily quiet and abnormally gray. He almost cried when he saw what was on the coffee table in front of the sofa. He prayed to a god he never believed and went into their bedroom.

Seungcheol was working behind his work desk.

“Hyung, I can explain!” Chan instantly knelt down, he thought there were no other ways.

Seungcheol took off his glasses and frowned. He actually didn’t think it was a problem. People smoke in high school, people hook up in high school. Since he knew the latter wasn’t the case, he decided to hear him out.

“Hyung, it isn’t mine! It’s Yeonjun’s! I was just keeping it for him! I thought you might find it so I hid it and forgot about it!”

“How is that better?”

“H-Hyung.”

Seungcheol stood up and walked over to the adorably confused boy.

“Should I punish you?”

Chan’s eyes widened and shook his head repeatedly, and Seungcheol kissed him right away. Chan slowly gave in, kissing him back until—

The door suddenly revealed Mr. and Mrs. Lee standing, “Kids?!”

Seungcheol pushed Chan, nervous while Mrs. Lee covered her face, “You can continue if you don’t make a lot of noise, kids!”

“Mom!”

Chan stood up in shame and walked past them. Then he downed a glass of water to gulp the embarrassment. He couldn’t believe his parents saw him like that.

“What is this?” Mrs. Lee pointed at the coffee table.

“T-That’s hyung’s!”

“He smokes?”

Chan apologized in his head and nodded. Mrs. Lee didn’t seem too happy, looking at her son-in-law unfavorably. Seungcheol couldn’t believe his ears, glaring at his husband.

“Anyways. Seungcheol, did you like my present? I told Chan to pass it on carefully. It’s a valuable one.”

“What present? Chan never gave me anything.” Seungcheol stuck his tongue at Chan.

Mr. Lee was infuriated, “Yah, Choi Chan! Why didn’t you give it to him?!”

Chapter Text

After Mr. and Mrs. Lee left, they could finally feel themselves breathing freely. Seungcheol quickly kneeled in front of Chan. He knew he went too far this time. Poor Chan, only letting the tears fall now.

"Chan... My love, my prince, my universe, my everything... Forgive this peasant of yours for he has committed a grave sin... My son-in-law's career couldn't just end like this... Forgive me for I shall live a hundred years kneeling here..."

Seungcheol stuck his forehead on the floor. Chan threw a couch pillow at him mercilessly.

Chan was never a good liar. He'd immediately told his father about the broken bottle, without mentioning Seungcheol.

Mr. Lee had yelled at him, punched him, and left. It was, after all, passed on for years. Seungcheol only realized that he had fucked up more than he thought he did after seeing the tears of disbelief in Chan's eyes.

Chan silently wiped his tears off and caressed the bruise on his face with a pout.

"I hate you!"

Seungcheol shook his head rapidly and hung onto his leg.

"No no no, you can't hate me! What am I going to do if you hate me?! I'll do whatever you want!"

Chan suddenly grinned mischievously, "Whatever I want? Yeah, okay! I don't hate you anymore!"

Seungcheol seemed relieved, standing up and wrapping Chan in a tight hug. But he didn't see his evil smile, pecking his lips a couple of times before they went to their room.

After their quarrel, Chan really focused on school. Chan could never even imagine how happy that made Seungcheol.

Chan was doing his homework for tomorrow as Seungcheol was quietly reading a book on their shared bed. Chan sighed.

"Yah, Choi Seungcheol!"

Seungcheol looked at him, surprised. Chan threw his pen on the desk and laid back on the chair.

"If you're a teacher, then be a teacher! I don't understand any of this stuff, dumbass!"

"Okay, your dumbass will teach it to you."

Chan burst into a laugh, sneering at his husband who still sat next to him, clueless. Sometimes, Seungcheol became too adorable, a hundred times more than usual. It was undoubtedly a fun sight for Chan.

“This one!!”

Chan pointed at his notebook, seemingly mottled and smudged. Really, the only thing that saved his notebook from being thrown into a trashcan was his neat writing.

Seungcheol smiled and started explaining it from the base up to the current difficulty he was having with the problem, while Chan silently nodded from time to time, watching his husband’s ethereal face that was too close to his own face.

“You gonna keep staring?”

Chan nodded and continued staring like his face was made of gold. Seeing his gradually blushing cheeks, he stared at him more and more fondly.

Soon, Seungcheol hid his blushing face and ran away to the bed. When was the last time he got this flustered? Impossible!

“By the way Hyung, I want to tell you my wish now…”

It was ten minutes before class, and Chan was sitting with his friends, chitchatting about random things. Happiness was plastered all over his face. Still grinning, he looked at the door every few seconds, waiting for Cheol to walk in, since math was first period.

Suddenly the door opened loudly, quieting down the chaotic class.

Seungcheol walked in as expected, but much to everyone’s surprise, he was doing the Micheal Jackson walk while humming a melody.

The students were speechless. Chan, the only one trying not to laugh with a hand covering his mouth.

Seungcheol walked backward until he hit the teachers’ desk and finally faced the students, “Wassup my favorite students! How’s it hangin’?”

He yelled, leaving everyone but Chan, who had set up a phone at the back of the classroom to capture the whole thing, in shock.

Seungcheol was smiling ear to ear during the entire period, almost creepily, like Pennywise.

“Lee Chan is such a good student! Everyone should learn from him!”

With these words, Seungcheol dismissed the dumbstruck class, staring at a loss for words until he closed the door from the outside. Then, after a few minutes of silence, laughter filled the air.

“What the hell happened to Mr. Choi?”

“Did he take a hot bath yesterday? Melted off his ice persona?”

“HAHAHA! I can die in peace now! Ow, ah, shit— my chest!”

Chan only crossed his arms and leaned back relaxedly, a smile of victory apparent on his face.

The victory remained on his face until and during lunchtime. He entered the cafeteria with Chaeyoun talking next to him, to which he paid no attention, smirking like another Pennywise until they reached Seungcheol who was waiting for them at the food section.

“Mr. Choi, why are you…” Yeonjun hesitantly asked after catching up to them in a few big steps.

“To treat my lovely students with the most expensive meal on the menu, why else?”

Other students passing by them stopped their movements to stare straight at them, gaping.

What happened to him today?

Seungcheol bought Chan and his friends the meals he promised, and sat with them all on the table Chan picked. The moment was so legendary, they were technically the first students to eat at the same table as their teacher. Vernon had also joined them, expressing that he wanted to become friends with Chan’s friends.

The students subconsciously felt restrained, while Vernon who had no ability to identify social cues, absolutely clueless and Chan who was the mastermind behind all of this were the only ones running their mouths nonstop enthusiastically.

Cheol was a little jealous, just a little, but he decided to pay no mind to it, listening to their conversation quietly.

“Yeonjun, please come to my room after class.”

Yeonjun choked on his food at Mr. Choi’s words, wondering why. He didn’t cause any trouble recently, did he?

“Yeah, hyung?”

Seungcheol took off his glasses and leaned back on his office chair. He had taken his brother’s call joyfully because he hadn’t talked to him after their reconciliation session at the alcohol wagon.

“How’s my brother-in-law?”

“What happened to ‘Hello, how are you?’ Is Chan more important to you than your own little brother?”

“Yeah, whatever. I was just worried about him. Anyways, it’s Dad’s birthday, surely you will be here?”

“Obviously not. As far as I’m concerned we’re not a family anymore. Never were.” Seungcheol’s tone changed significantly into a harsh one.

“Cut it, Cheol. If none of you compromises, we truly will never be a family again. Take Chan here tonight. They’ll accept you one day or another!”

Seungcheol hopelessly agreed and hung up the phone. He knew that this would never end well, because it was his parents they were talking about. They hated queers with all their heart. Beasts who disowned their own child for it without batting an eye. It must’ve been so easy for them because they have another son to take over the enterprises!

He was trying to shake the unease out when Yeonjun entered his room. Terrifiedly fidgeting with the hem of his uniform, probably assuming he was going to get scolded.

Cheol sighed, bringing out the cigarettes and the condom from his bag onto the desk.

“Take them. Next time, keep your stuff on your own! Those things started it all…”

Yeonjun almost fainted when he saw what was thrown on the table, visibly distressed when he opened his mouth to try to reason himself and also ask questions about how he got ahold of his things.

“Not a single word! Or else, I’ll report them to the headmaster!”

“GOT IT!”

Yeonjun took them and rushed out, Seungcheol left behind in his thoughts about his father’s birthday.

Chapter Text

Although the sun hadn’t gone down yet, the day itself was gloomier than usual, hence the darkness in Seungcheol’s room. He stood up and stretched his stiff shoulders, looking around. Actually, he was the only teacher with his own room. Principal Junmyeon rewarded him the honor since he was chosen as the best teacher in school. But in his head, it was more of a curse than an award. Being friendless at workplace isn’t such a good idea.

Closing his eyes, he sighed and remembered his father’s birthday. Without any other choice, he picked up his phone and called Chan.

No matter how much he wanted to decline the invite, he loved his brother. More than that, he didn’t try to deny the lingering feeling of missing his parents.

Chan didn’t pick up his phone. Three failed calls, but Seungcheol was calmer in this situation than most people.

Usually, Chan answered calls even when he was sleeping. But never has he ever picked up a single call while he’s gaming at an internet cafe. Something bad could’ve happened to him, but, in all honesty, he’s the bad himself. He could throw punches left and right if he’s in a dangerous situation. So, the only answer was the internet cafe near the school.

Such a shame. He hadn’t played for months, ever since Seungcheol kept getting angry after noticing that he was getting too addicted to it.

Cheol wore his coat and went out to fetch his baby husband.

Entering the cafe, he was greeted by a poorly lit and dark environment, but the computer screens helped him find his way.

He looked around, but he couldn’t find Chan. Then he looked again, this time more carefully, through every branch, but unfortunately, still no Chan. Just as he was starting to get frustrated, his eyes landed on a VIP room. A VIP room? They didn’t have those when he was in high school.

He’d be lying if he said that he didn’t use to play. Seungcheol opened the cranky door and saw five gaming sets. He assumed that it was for connecting with your friends through games.

Seungcheol now saw his baby husband, seemingly laughing ‘til his chest hurt with Vernon who just transferred a few days ago. He was about to walk out when Vernon put his hand around Chan’s shoulders, pressing closer to him.

He felt jealousy tingling, paced in big steps to walk up to them and threw his hand off of Chan, “Don’t touch my husband!”

“Whatever, old man.”

Vernon rubbed his thrown hand, backing into his seat while Chan’s brain was spinning right, throwing up, and spinning left. Okay, he got caught secretly playing in a shady internet cafe where somebody probably died, but that’s not the main problem right now. Vernon knows them. But why isn’t he surprised?!

“But why haven’t you still told Dino that I’m your cousin? I sent a present when you married even though I couldn’t come.”

Choi Seungcheol and Choi Hansol aka Vernon were cousins. They were best friends for the first 6 years of Vernon’s life, but their parents didn’t let them play together much. So they grew distant enough to pass by each other like strangers on the street.

Chan stood still, trying to process all the information that’s been shoved into his brain in like, 15 seconds. Suddenly, warm lips embraced his own and he came back to life.

Seungcheol pecked him again, “Idiot, why are you so zoned out?”

Cheol kissed him again and reminded him of leaving, and Chan only then realizes that Vernon had already left.

“Why didn’t you tell me that he’s your cousin?”

Seungcheol really thought he didn’t need to. Or maybe he just forgot. He opened the passenger door for Chan, smacking the back of his head just as he was getting in, “I’ll get angry if I catch you playing in secret again!”

Chan whined in protest and stroked the damaged part, jestly pouting once he was in the car. But he quickly regained a smile once he remembered that they were going home together after a while.

But they weren’t going home like he thought. Seungcheol steered his wheel to a flower shop, the weather still as gloomy as before, perhaps warning Chan that he won’t like what was about to happen.

“Hyung, why are we here?”

“It’s father’s birthday. Minho hyung invited us. Let’s just drop by!”

Now Chan was surprised. Actually, he’s never even seen their face. He knew that Cheol left his home and that all he has now was thanks to his intelligence. The more he thinks about it, the more fear settles in his guts. They sent their men to him! Sure, it was just to scare him, but he was pretty sure that they would’ve killed him off.

Seungcheol had gotten a bouquet of fake black roses wrapped to show how much he hated them.

The light in Chan’s eyes immediately switched off. He looked like he was invited to a close family friend’s funeral, suddenly as glum and wordless as the weather.

“It’s okay. We’ll just drop by, okay?”

Seungcheol kissed his head and Chan nodded. He’s probably the only person who’s this scared of their inlaws.

They drove for a good while and stopped infront of a big mansion. The glum clouds had started raining softly, but it felt like a heavy downpour for Chan.

Soon enough, the tall fence opened and men in black suits came out. One of them tried to open Chan’s door, but Seungcheol stopped them.

“I can open my husband’s door myself.” Seungcheol scolded harshly. The man silently bowed and left.

Cheol held Chan’s hand gently, gripped the bouquet tightly with his other hand and they walked inside. He was finally meeting his parents after years of no contact. It’s bitterly cold.

The mansion was full of marble furniture, with many guards and maids around. Some of the furniture was almost made with gold, and the crystal silver chandelier was the highlight of it all. Chan’s jaws were on the floor. He knew that they were rich, but he never thought they were 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 rich?!

They went to the dining room to see the longest table Chan had ever seen in real life. There was an old man, freakishly similar to Cheol, sitting on the furthest end of the table, and a woman, sitting elegantly on his left. It looked like several guests had just left before their arrival, empty bowls and plates filling the table.

Minho seemed to have been waiting for them, beaming as he ran up to them.

“What’s up, little guy?” Minho hugged Chan, chattering about how he missed him before inviting them to the table.

Seungcheol was unsure, but he handed the bouquet to his father with a fake smile.

His mother was wearing a red off-the-shoulder dress. She was almost in her fifties, but there wasn’t a single wrinkle on her face, showcasing what she spends all her money on. She saw Chan’s uniform, “That thing still hasn’t graduated?”

Cheol immediately began to feel frustrated, the first words to say after years being: “Not that thing, your son-in-law!”

His father scoffed and leaned back, “What’s he even called?”

Before Seungcheol could open his mouth to reply, Chan quickly introduced himself in a few words.

They didn’t talk after that. But when the maids started bringing the meals in, Chan couldn’t help but exclaim. Because the foods he only saw on the internet were now before him. Food is a miracle and that miracle was in front of him now!

“Woahh hyung, I want to eat that one! Hurry, get me some!!” Chan pointed at the food in front of Cheol’s father.

Cheol broke into a smile, adoring his baby husband who yelled after seeing some food, not a single care in the world.

Mrs. Choi rolled her eyes.

“You two must be like father and son, how pathetic.”

Mr. Choi sneered at them mockingly, and Chan burst out laughing.

“But Dad, you have seaweed on your teeth.”

Chan continued eating, and Minho impatiently began laughing too. Seungcheol covered his mouth, trying not to laugh but miserably failing. The words Chan so carelessly said.

“But don’t be embarrassed! My friend had it much worse. We were eating kimbap in a restaurant. Then my friend’s crush came in—“

Seungcheol nudged him and shook his head, warning Chan before he crossed any limits.

“What’s crush?”

This time, Mrs. Choi curiously asked. Chan giggled, “No wonder, you guys are old. It’s a girl or boy you like.”

“And what happened next?”

Mr. Choi cleared his throat and asked, making Chan beam even more, “Then my friend decided that he’ll actually get close to her this time. He confessed and told her he liked her for a long time and she started laughing like crazy and said that there was a seaweed stuck in his teeth. He looked so funny and toothless!”

Minho and Chan started laughing unnecessarily loud as Seungcheol and his parents chuckled, watching Chan fondly.

“I forgot when was the last time we laughed like this in this house.”

Minho said after calming down and Chan downed a big bite, struggling to talk with his cheeks full of food.

“Cheol hyung said you guys were so scary, but you’re not that bad. Mom looks as beautiful as an actress. Minho hyung and Cheol hyung must be this handsome because you gave birth to them.”

“Do you think so?”

Madam Choi smiled softly and touched her right cheek, as Mr. Choi rolled his eyes. Why does only the mother get credit when they made these children together?

Chan’s cuteness was able to defeat anyone, actually. Hours of listening to his adorable chats, warmth and smiles never left the big mansion. Even the maids were invested, adoring Chan as they laughed along with the family members.

When it was time to leave, Chan walked out of that mansion with a big grin and his dad’s black card, fanning himself with it. He’s never even let his own two sons touch it, but his son-in-law who hasn’t even graduated high school effortlessly made it his.

“Visit us sometimes.” Seungcheol’s mother said before they left.

“Of course, Mom!”

She sent them off with a big lipstick print on Chan’s cheek.

Chapter Text

“Only THREE days until the championship! Come on, keep it up, boys!! No mistakes! No mercy! We’re lions, aren’t we?!”

Chan shouted across the entire PE hall with a frown. They 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 win this one! They were seniors now. It’s their last game. They almost ended up in second place last year because the team didn’t play well enough. If they did, Chan would’ve torn their skins alive and made a rug out of it. They had to be a million times stronger this time. There was no doubt that the other schools were going to give it their all since it was their last year too.

Vernon suddenly burst out laughing. “Excuse me, you mean a puppy?” He smirked, referring to the face Chan made at Seungcheol a few days ago.

Chan found himself a little embarrassed. Only Seungcheol calls him puppy. It was kind of funny, but he actually liked the nickname. Then he found himself wanting to go home, to his husband.

“Alright, guys! Go home and rest a lot! Don’t forget to massage your muscles and soak in a hot bath!”

His teammates cheered, wiped out from the long hours of practice.

As Chan was trying to quickly change his jersey to his uniform, Yeonjun approached him, holding a water bottle in his hand. Chan assumed that he wanted to ask for a favor. Or maybe not. His face didn’t look too well. Chan finished the water in a few sips and waited for what he had to say.

“Dino.” Yeonjun said after pondering for a while, looking at him straight in the eye. Chan was a bit frightened at the unusual seriousness. What happened to him?

“Why did Mr. Choi have the things I asked you to keep? I gave it to you, right?”

It surprised Chan. How did he find out?

“He gave it to me yesterday. Dino? I don’t get it. Why did he have those? Tell me… Why did he know that they were mine?”

“Y-Yeonjun—“

“Dino… Did you really want me to get in trouble? You knew I would’ve been in big trouble if the school authorities found out! Why did you do that?”

Chan was starting to get nervous. Things were going to take a wrong turn. In fact, they already had and it was wrong no matter how he looked at it. This can’t be. He didn’t know how to explain this.

“You lied when you said they were at yours! You gave it to Mr. Choi to get me in trouble, didn’t you?! What have I ever done to you?!“

“No, Yeonjun! it’s not like that—“

Yeonjun took a deep breath, snatched his backpack, and tried to leave but Chan grabbed his wrist in time, “Yeonjun, you don’t get it! I don’t know how to explain but I— I…”

“Dino, you always hide things from us! You never let us come over. Hell, we don’t even know where you live! You’re always busy, can’t, your brother will get mad… Let me just ask you one thing. What were you doing in Mr. Choi’s car yesterday?”

“Just… you know…”

“You’re hiding it even now! Of course, someone like you would do shit like that behind his friend’s back!”

The sound of a door slamming echoed through the gym and Wooyoung, who’d heard their entire conversation from the beginning until the end, also walked out with disappointed eyes.

Chan sighed and thought for a moment. Maybe he hated himself. His whole existence was based on lies. What would happen if he told them the truth? Maybe they would be disgusted. Maybe not. But in the end, nothing good would happen. He’d thought about it before. He in school was built on lies…

The last one to leave the gym left the keys to Chan. The moon had already risen. They must’ve been practicing for a long time.

He’d wanted to lay in his hyung’s arms a moment ago, but his heavy thoughts had already made him forget about home and everything simple. Why do problems always just pop out of nowhere?

“My love?”

Chan jumped at the sudden noise and looked up. A little angry at his husband who managed to come in with no sound.

Seungcheol smiled, looking around, happy to see that the other students were all gone. Then he gave him a few kisses as usual. No one to interrupt them…

“Why are you here, all sad and lonely? Don’t you know that it’s haunted?”

Cheol asked as he scanned the gym and Chan felt his heart drop. His little guy was scared of ghosts. It was a good excuse to tease him sometimes.

“H-Haunted? By g-ghosts?”

Seungcheol chuckled and adored his husband for a moment. Chan was really terrified now. How could he really sit alone in this dark, cold, and empty big space?

“Anyway, what happened?”

He asked the forgotten question again and carefully took his hands. They sat on the floor. Cheol brought out a canned drink and opened it before handing it to Chan.

“Sorry, precious. They were out of orange juice.”

Chan nodded, sighing. Why was he so unlucky today? Losing his friend and his orange juice in one day.

“Yeonjun is mad at me. He said I always hide things. But you know I can’t not hide things. Why do friends need to tell each other everything? It’s fine if they just, I don’t know, hang out all the time.”

Chan took a sip from the Coke Zero and felt the weight of the problem hit him even more.

“Chan, they’re not just friends for you, are they? Friends who take up a big space in your heart,” He tapped on Chan’s chest, “no? If you’re scared to lose someone, then they’re not just someone to you anymore. I can help you. Let’s tell them the truth.”

“But why would he think of me like that after all those years of friendship?” Chan said, on the verge of tears and trying not to let them fall. He would never and could never do something like that.

“Because you always hid things and no trust was formed. Let’s tell them the truth, baby.”

Soon, they left the gym and sat in their car. Chan stuck to him like a spoiled princess. They just had their first kiss with unlocked doors in school. It made them happy somehow.

Seungcheol sighed and smiled sadly, “This car is too old. It’s almost broken.”

Chan looked at him, confounded. Their car was all fine, though?

Seungcheol continued, “I just want to upgrade it. A little birdie told me that a car lasts longer if you pay it with something black colored…”

“No way!”

“Let’s talk!”

Chan dragged Yeonjun and Wooyoung to the rooftop just before they entered the cafeteria. He was a bit irritated that he’d been ignored the whole morning. He felt like he was abandoned alone in a jungle and that made him miss them and their company more.

“Come over to my place after school. I’ll tell you everything!”

Chan requested firmly. Wooyoung sighed and nodded without a choice while Yeonjun casually left with a frown. After they left, he couldn’t bear the loneliness any longer and found himself at the place he rarely visited nowadays: His husband’s office. Only he could pull him out of all this loneliness right now.

He quietly opened the door and saw the usual, fierce-looking Mr. Choi who didn’t even notice him enter. Why does he work so much?

Chan locked the door and plopped down on the lap of the guy who’d been typing on the keyboard like there was no tomorrow.

“Startled me there. When did you come in?”

“Missed you so much.”

Seungcheol smiled and pecked his nape. Chan had a sweet natural scent. Perhaps because his skin is too sensitive for his own good, it gave him the kind of smell you would find on a baby oil. Cheol couldn’t get enough of it. So Chan tilted his head to the right to give him more space.

“It’s lonely without friends…”

“Then should we upgrade our car?”

“Hyung!!” He whined.

“Chan!! We can buy so much with that! I heard Jimmy Choo launched new clothes. I really want it. A teacher’s salary can’t even cover one coat! Chan-ah~ What if we can’t buy some in time and they’re out of stock?”

Cheol shook Chan.

“You have a closet full of clothes! They were all Gucci, Louis Vuitton, or Saint Laurent. No!”

Cheol started peppering him with kisses this time. This was so important to him. He wanted to wear a new coat more than anything.

“Okay okay, fine!”

Chan gave up and dived into his husband’s affection instead, the worries about his friends and how to tell them the truth long forgotten.

Chapter Text

In the car, the two guys, who were just chatting about various topics, drowned in the silence of what was about to come. They were both too worried about the possible outcomes.

Seungcheol smiled softly and held Chan’s hand. It was probably the most comforting gesture for Chan.

“Don’t worry, baby. They’ll understand if they really love you.”

Chan glumly nodded and leaned back against the window. He was scared to even think about it. Seungcheol sighed, parking his car in front of a market and signing Chan to follow him. In the end, no one refuses snacks.

“Love, buy everything you want. And snacks that your friends like, alright? They can have a sleepover, play some games. How does that sound?”

Seungcheol remembered how he hung out with his friends during his school years. He used to dive in his parents’ wealth. Meanwhile, Chan was surprised he hadn’t thought of that sooner.

They went into the store and Chan came out beaming, having bought many types of snacks. Everyone likes having friends over, and he certainly wasn’t an exception.

They bought a PS5 on their way home. Chan really believed that his friends would like it. He always got into unnecessary fights and troubles with Wooyoung and Yeonjun, but in the end, they had a good nature. He knew them very well. They had been friends since elementary school, after all. Those two would sacrifice their lives for these.

Chan fixed up a small table in the living room and made it neatly with all the snacks he(Seungcheol) bought, then connected the new PS5 to the TV, logging into an account he already had.

Seungcheol was cooking dinner with everything he could find in the fridge, taking into account that he had to leave some for next week until he got his paycheck after he just willingly but regrettably so let Chan spend all the money he had left in his bank account. It’s his first time meeting them as his husband’s friends and not as students. He undeniably felt nervous and a bunch of other emotions, but he tried to appear calm for Chan’s sake.

“We could’ve just ordered in, hyung.”

Chan worriedly approached his husband who seemed to be putting a lot of effort into several meals.

“It’s okay, honey. Your friends are coming over for the first time. This much should be expected, right?”

Seungcheol gave him a kiss on the cheek and smiled lovingly. They set the table, stacked with different foods and side meals, and checked the clock to see that it was already 5 PM. Chan went on a rant about their tardiness, his anxiety piling up each minute.

He checked the clock and became even more surprised. Maybe they couldn’t find the address he sent?

Just as Chan impatiently tried to call them, the doorbell rang. They’re here.

Chan took a deep breath and went to open the door. Seungcheol couldn’t help but adore his anxious husband. He was too cute when he became nervous.

“What’s up, Dino? Sorry we’re kind of late, you won’t believe how much Yeonjun took from our precious time.”

Chaeyoun, with her loud voice and nagging as usual, entered first with a big grin, followed by Wooyoung, Yeonjun and lastly, Soobin. He hoped their smiles wouldn’t come off after knowing some uncomfortable truths.

“A toilet paper?”

Chan questioned the big pack of 12 toilet paper rolls in Yeonjun’s hand, exclaiming, as his friend shrugged, “First time coming to my friend’s new place after 2 years. House warming gift!” and threw the pack at him. Chan couldn’t decide if he should be scared or grateful, so he chooses neither.

They hurriedly took off their shoes and ran to the living room in crowd, yelling out in surprise. Their apartment had really made an impression on them. The living room had a big empty space next to the window that continued from the floor to the ceiling, showcasing most of Seoul. It was extremely beautiful.

“Why’d you hide this? I thought you were really poor and embarrassed to invite us over!”

Yeonjun jumped on the couch and asked once he was done running around.

“But where are your parents?”

“I moved out.”

Chan smiled, surprised that they still hadn’t seen the big ass wedding picture in the center of the wall. He guessed that they were too excited.

“Oh my god, your parents—“

Wooyoung suddenly stopped shouting mid-sentence. The others also quieted down, staring at Chan and successfully making him feel a little creeped out.

Chan looked back, confused, and saw a too-fine-looking Seungcheol, grinning while holding his apron in one hand.

“Mr. Choi?! What the fuck!”

Everyone shifted their eyes on Chan, whose hands were grabbed lovingly by Seungcheol, quietly encouraging Chan to tell them the truth with a nod. Seems like their little secret wasn’t a secret anymore.

“So guys! Uhm… This is what I’ve been hiding. Hyung and I are… married. For like, two years. We moved in together two years ago.”

“Two years?!”

Chan pointed a finger at the wedding picture of two handsome guys in suits (with one of them in a bow tie, awfully unnecessary for me to specify who.), and only then did they all collectively paid closer attention to all the other framed pictures on the commode. Everyone stood in awkward silence for a moment longer than what was comfortable, staring between Seungcheol, Chan, and the wedding picture. Yeonjun’s earsplitting laugh breaks the tension, startling everyone but Seungcheol.

“Hold on! Seonsaengnim doesn’t have a wife but a husband? And out of e—veryone, it’s you?!”

Chan frowned, glaring at Yeonjun until he stopped laughing and questioned, “How’d you pull him?”

This time, Seungcheol let out a laugh. How would he react if he’d heard about how his greatly valued teacher wiped his arse on the floor to woo his baby husband?

“Do you guys want to eat? I made dinner.” Cheol asked.

Chan couldn’t be more proud of his friends who were taking this too calmly and silently. All of them understand and accept him. Or are they just too scared of Seungcheol to say anything?

Cheol invited them to the dining table, and the students, who saw his real smile for the first time instead of the one he uses in class, seemed to be finally getting a bit more relaxed.

“But Chaeyoun already told us you were in love with Mr. Choi. We’re not really surprised, so no worries! To be honest, I felt a little odd around him at first. But we’re all friends in the end anyways, everything’s okay! It was really shocking when Chaeyoun told us though, really, really shocking!”

Chan threw a look a Chaeyoun and sighed. He’d thought it was their secret, but it seems like she already told everybody.

They didn’t talk after that. Which was odd because they were never ever this quiet when they eat lunch at school. Probably because Seungcheol’s presence is right there, next to Chan.

Everyone watched as Seungcheol, out of habit, picked out Chan’s favorite dishes and put them on his plate, their stares almost too obvious. It made Seungcheol and Chan nervous while doing something that they did just about every time they ate.

“I’m full. You guys sleeping over, right?” Seugcheol stood up, wiping his mouth with a leftover Christmas napkin.

The students shrugged, confused.

“Chaeyoun and Soobin probably can’t. But we will.”

“Whatever you want. I’ll be working in my office if you need me. Don’t worry about anything and have fun.”

Seungcheol, again, out of habit, kissed Chan before moving away from the table, which he then terribly regretted because his students were about to drill a hole in his face with their eyes, and that was definitely not a good feeling. He cleared his throat and went to his room, feeling like he was advertising a porno magazine to his students.

After the door closed, the students exhaled like they’d been holding their breaths since coming in. They immediately lost their straight posture and fell back onto the chair. Honestly, none of them were calm. They would rate their shock 10/10. Who wouldn’t be, when just one casual morning the scariest teacher, who was also the most terrifying person you know, is married to your friend.

“Holy sheet! Downright bone-chilling. His whole existence emits ice! Almost peed my pants.”

Everyone laughed when Soobin admitted with a sigh.

“But can a minor get married?”

“Nope. Just a wedding. We’re getting our marriage certificate after I graduate.”

Chan smiled. He wanted that piece of paper more than anything. They’ll officially be husbands without having to hide from anyone or worry about anything. He gets giggly just thinking about it.

“But why’d you have to get married when you could’ve just dated like everyone else?”

Chan refused to answer this time and shrugged. It was all a very very long story.

They managed to devour everything Seungcheol cooked and moved to the living room for the snacks. Of course, not forgetting to bombard Chan about everything, from how they met, to their relationship at school. Chan patiently answered every question to the best of his potential, feeling extremely light after putting all of his secrets on the table.

“But Dino-yah, you must’ve wanted to laugh your ass off whenever we talked about Mr. Choi’s nonexistent wife.”

“Right! That time when I lied about seeing his wife!”

Chaeyoun said cackling, while Chan remembered bad memories from what that lie brought him. He hadn’t thought of that lately.

“By the way, Mr. Choi’s really handsome so a lot of girls in our school sent him love letters.” Wooyoung curiously smiled.

“It’s okay… I just burn all of ‘em.” He absolutely despised even looking at any of those.

“Wow. Jealous guy, huh?”

Yeonjun elbowed him with a sneer, to which Chan responded, “No, he’s the jealous one. He once got jealous of his cousin! My OJs too!”

“Oh my god. When you said your dad will never forgive you if you failed that test—that was Mr. Choi, wasn’t it?!” Soobin screamed, eyes as wide as tennis balls.

The others burst into laughter, hitting each other a few times in the process of trying to calm down.

“No! What are you guys thinking?!”

Chan flushed, fidgeting while his friends rolled around on the floor, trying to catch their breaths. He, at that moment, felt like a wet otter in comparison to the Dino in the gym.

Seungcheol could hear their conversation clearly, even with a wall to separate them. They were too noisy. Ear piercingly loud…

Chapter Text

Chan momentarily leaned against the car window before glancing at his quiet husband in the driver's seat, heaving a sigh. The car was filled with silence as awkward as it could get when you're riding with a terrifying teacher in school who just happens to be your friend's husband. Seungcheol's scowl, as well as his pissed expression didn't help the intense atmosphere at all.

Usually, Channie would stick himself to his husband and talk about topics ranging from his political views on the current Korean economics to low prices of coffee grinders at their local electronics store. But this morning, he couldn't help but hang his head low, frightened by his gaze. Maybe a little shy about his two oblivious friends in the backseat too.

The two boys scrambled out of the car as soon as it stopped near the school.

Chan smiled after they were left alone and leaned in for a kiss, only to be pushed away with an upset grunt that let him feeling more confused than he did the entire ride. Since when did he start acting like this? Why is he even mad?

Chan sighed for the millionth time that morning and decided to ask later in the evening. He was about to be late anyways.

Seungcheol stayed in the car for a short nap since he didn't have class first period.

He, for sure, was a little mad that he couldn't sleep last night because of the noise, but that wasn't the main reason why. He'd waited awake after the noises died down because he was hoping Chan would come to their shared bed. But apparently, Chan must've dove into his "video games with friends and snacks" happiness and forgot about his husband, because when Seungcheol went to fetch him, he was already snoring and tightly clinging onto Wooyoung.

Seungcheol wanted to be fine with it, but love was like a parasite, sucking you little by little until you're mad at the stupidest things. He didn't want to be jealous, but anger kept coming out of nowhere to make him do dumb stuff.

He used to take pride in being the only one who could touch Chan that closely, but the image he saw in the morning had shattered the thought and left a bit of betrayal in him.

Chan sighed with a whine, staring outside the window. Wooyoung slapped him on the shoulder, "Dino, let's go! It's lunchtime already!"

Oh, he didn't even notice the bell ringing. He'd been thinking too much.

Chan had no idea why Seungcheol was mad at him. He felt wronged after what happened in the car, but he was afraid to make rash judgement. He'd decided to try to figure out what he did wrong patiently.

After they all got their meals and sat down, which quickly became a normal thing that stopped surprising other students, Soobin and Chaeyoun immediately pulled out their phones to show them their great discovery.

Chaeyoun sipped her juicebox, "Binnie and I found Mr. Choi's Instagram account. It was private, so we sent a request and he accepted it so fast! Okay, but guess what was in it."

Wooyoung rolled his eyes, sick of the way she circles around things instead of actually getting to the main point.

"It was literally all Dino."

"Dude, that's obviously expected. Did you see the way he looks at Dino last night? I wish someone looked at me like that." Yeonjun sighed, while Chan asked with the same eyes that's been confused since earlier.

"Hyung had an IG account?"

Chan was surprised that he didn't know until now. How didn't he ever wonder if his husband has social media? Why does he always run to him, saying he loves his husband, but forget about little things like this all the time?

He snatched the phone from Chaeyoun and scrolled through his feed. It was all Chan's pictures, mostly taken in secret.

Chan sleeping, Seungcheol kissing him gently in while he's asleep, holding hands in the car, Chan singing while vacuuming the house. He'd never thought his husband was the type to take pictures in secret like this, but it seems like he doesn't know his husband very well.

While Chan's Instagram feed was all about food, him with Wooyoung and Yeonjun, and video games. He hadn't even thought about taking Seuncheol's pictures secretly. Afraid that his friends might find it, he doesn't even keep his photos in his gallery.

Chan had assumed that he knew Seungcheol well. He leaned on his knuckles, sighing because he had some rethinking to do.

"By the way, Dino!"

"Yeah?"

"Do us a favor. Wooyoung and I were busy fumbling with the basketball championship, we forgot to do Mr. Choi's assignment. You got a good grade with the last exam and all, but us," Yeonjun sighed before continuing, "Anyways, Dino-yah, please please please please! Convince Mr. Choi for us!"

Yeonjun was too occupied, fidgeting and repeating all the prayers he knows in his head, to even make eye contact with Chan. Of course, Yeonjun knows it's shameless to ask for this, but the deadline was tomorrow.

"No way! What are you talking about? Hyung doesn't give me extensions, so you can forget about yours."

"Please, Dino! Just this once! I swear we'll be even bigger help to you next time!"

"No!"

How could he even bring that up when they're already on bad terms for approximately 4.34329 hours?! It would never work.

"Then we'll tell Mr. Choi about when you kissed Yeji on the last class trip!"

"Dude!? That was a dare! And it was on the cheeks!"

Chan panicked a little, having totally forgot about the stuff he completely hid from Seungcheol himself. Back then, he felt like he'd cheated on his husband and had to live with the panging guilt.

"So, do we have a deal? Or else, Mr. Choi--"

"Okay, okay!"

They might come very close to divorce if, or inevitably when, he brings up something like this while Seungcheol is mad at him.

"Dino! We will never forget about what tremendous help you've been to us! I love you s--"

"Fuck off. I don't love you." Chan rolled his eyes, hurrying out of the cafeteria. He just agreed to what he thought he would never do, ever.

Chan's mind wandered off to everything but the lesson until the class was dismissed. The sun was already halfway set, painting the sky with a beautiful orange-y pink. Clearly, the weather didn't match his sour mood. If Seungcheol did this to him, he would be pouting all the way to death.

Wooyoung and Yeonjun were waiting for Chan to finish packing up solemnly outside the classroom to go to practice.

"What's wrong, dude? You've been drooping since lunch."

"Didn't you notice this morning? Hyung was angry!"

"I thought you two were always like that!"

"Obviously not!"
Chan massaged his head, thinking about how to get out of this weird situation. His husband suddenly got mad and he didn't know why. On top of that, he had to beg for credit in his friends' stead. And finally, the Instagram account. That one's on him, for sure.

As they were leaving the school yard, a shiny black car pulled up infront of him. A car so expensive that a few kids snapped pictures while exclaiming.

"Mr. Choi!!!"

Seungcheol looked up, startled by the duo that barged into his office out of nowhere. Wooyoung and Yeonjun took a moment to catch their breaths, their brows frowned to its' fullest capacities. It made Seungcheol a little scared.

"Where do you think you are?! Don't you know how to knock?!"

The two bowed and stumbled over their words at the harsh scolding.

"What happened?"

"D-Dino got kidn-napped by a really scarr-ry guy in a big black suit in a b-big black car!"

Seungcheol looked at their shaking hands, and realized they weren't joking at all.

Chapter Text

Seungcheol abruptly stood up from his chair after hearing their story. The boys stood still as they waited for his next move, worried about Chan. If something bad happened to him, they wouldn’t forgive themselves for watching it happen.

“We need to get the CCTV records.”

Seungcheol said shakily, about to leave with the two boys when Wooyoung said his phone was ringing. He mustn’t have noticed it because his heart felt like it was beating louder and faster than the ringtone in every inch of his body.

“Hello?” Seungcheol took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

“I have your husband… Do you want to see him? Ah… Look at his flawless, pale skin! What if I leave a scar on it? Let’s make a deal. If you want Channie back, give me the black card!”

Seungcheol almost exploded when he heard the voice of a young man talking on the line. He was raging mad. His brows furrowed and his hands clenched until they were white.

The boys began to panic as they watched him, assuming that something bad had really happened.

“Hyung! What the fuck are you doing?! I was scared to death!”

Seungcheol slammed his desk in anger and Minho cackled, adoring him. It was an understandable situation if his quick-tempered little brother had used his brain a little and took a moment to think about it.

“Why’d you need Chan?”

“Mom and Dad missed him and told me to kidnap him. Kidnapping has to be realistic, right? So I pulled some strings.”

Seungcheol rolled his eyes and started cursing out his brother. It was fucking hilarious, stupid jerk!

“You don’t have a job?”

“Not today. So, us four are having dinner at Mom and Dad’s.” Minho explained and looked at Chan in the passenger seat, who was too fixated on the bubble tea he’d bought him that he didn’t pay attention to Minho on the phone or anything else for that matter. Adorable, fluffy little guy.
Sometimes, It’s hard to believe he’s an adult now.

“And what about me? Amazing! Am I not their biological son?!”

“Of course you are. We thought you might be working. Just come here if you’re free.”

“I am now?!”

Seungcheol hung up the call in frustration and looked at the boys, who’d been listening in for a while with wide eyes, looking for answers.

“He’s okay, kids.” Seungcheol smiled briefly and shooed them out.

Rechecking that there were no classes left today, he quickly put on his coat. He had assignments to grade, but that can be postponed until tomorrow. Right now, he just wanted to see his baby husband.

He organized everything and was about to leave when he saw the two boys still standing by his door.

Yeonjun cleared his throat a few times and looked at Seungcheol with a serious expression, courageous and nervous. It was probably the only time he looked at him dead in the eye, considering that they stared at his nape for 80 minutes every day.

“Uhm… W-We want to meet Dino! We really want to see if he’s okay!” He let out a long breath and waited for an answer.

Seungcheol silently watched them for a moment, then nodded and gave them his car keys.

“Understood. Go ahead and wait in the car. I have to give a report to Mr. Kim.”

The boys quickly nodded their heads and took the keys from him. They didn’t think he would let them, but they were happy that he did. Besides, they were dying to know what happened to Dino. They deciphered from Mr. Choi’s call that his brother had taken him.

As they were heading to the parking lot, Soobin and Chaeyoun appeared out of nowhere. Their faces were red and they were out of breath from running.

“Where… Where were you guys? We’ve been looking everywhere for you! The rumors about Dino are already all over the school! What happened? Is he okay?”

They seemed really worried, bombarding them with questions. Wooyoung shook his head and laughed a little.

“He’s fine. Mr. Choi’s brother took him. We’re going to meet him right now.”

“Let’s go together. We want to see him too!” Chaeyoun said with determination, but Soobin was a bit worried. He wasn’t sure if Mr. Choi was okay with it.

Chaeyoung immediately followed it with, “He agreed to you two, so we should be fine.” and hurried them into his car.

Yeonjun sat in the front as the other three filled the back. Soon enough, Seungcheol came in and looked at the back through his rear-view mirror.

“How’d you just multiply in number?”

“Sir, we’re worried about Dino too! We want to go with you!” Chaeyoun said decisively.

Seungcheol raised his eyebrows as his eyes squinted and made an annoyed face in acceptance before starting the car. These kids should learn to separate from each other once in a while. Maybe they would blow up the house, but as long as Chan is there, his parents wouldn’t mind!

While Soobin leaned out the window, lost in his thoughts, Miyeon observed Seungcheol's car curiously. As far as she knew, the teacher had been driving this car for 2 years, but the inside was as clean as new. She knew very well that her teacher was rich, because she didn’t know a lot of, if not any, ordinary people who are teachers and drive this kind of car simultaneously.

Then Chaeyoun saw their wedding picture on the front mirror and a picture of Dino standing alone. She also saw Dino’s gym clothes and sneakers in a plastic bag under the back seat. Not only that, even the cans of that strange soda he drinks are lying there. Mr. Choi is very clean and organized. But Dino is not. He usually makes a ton of mess in whatever space he’s in. Considering all that, how did they even end up together?

“So…”

Seungcheol made a small sound, drawing their attention to him.

“Chaeyoun, Yeonjun, and Wooyoung didn’t give me their assignments. What happened? Is it because it’s due tomorrow, or are you going to turn it in tomorrow?”

Seungcheol glanced at Yeonjun, who’d been sitting awkwardly next to him, then looked back at the other two, both who avoided his eyes and tried to look busier by picking their fingers or making beats with their feet.

"I know you didn't, kids." Seungcheol sighed and offered, “Of course, you guys are graduating and it’s bad for your future if you fail a math class. Here’s a deal. Chaeyoun, you won’t provoke Chan during lessons again. Wooyoung and Yeonjun, you can’t casually touch Chan’s body again. If my conditions are met, I’ll raise your grades to an A. But if not, I’ll drop them right away. Do we have a deal?”

It all seemed pretty easy, so everyone accepted his offer without a second thought. They also realized how terribly jealous and possessive he was.

After driving for a while, they arrived at his parents’ place. The kids were surprised when people in black suits ran over to open their doors for them, and even more surprised when they took in the size of the place.

Before they entered the mansion, servants rushed to take their backpacks off. This place was like a factory with too many employees. Because they’ve only seen stuff like this in movies before, they couldn’t help but gasp.

“Oh my God… Look at the chandelier!”

Soobin was almost speechless, but Wooyoung and Yeonjun were too in a hurry to find Chan and ask about the situation.

Seungcheol led them into the dining room and saw Chan, stuck to his parents while laughing and happily chatting about, as Minho stared at them fondly. Really declaring their love for him, huh?

“Sir, Young Master has arrived.”

Only when one of the servants announced loudly, they noticed the new faces along with one old one.

Chan’s eyes widened and widened even more when he saw his friends.

“Guys!”

He immediately got up and ran towards his friends, but swerved midway and hugged Seungcheol. Seungcheol smiled affectionately and returned the hug as he kissed his head, as well as his lips covered in food. He felt a sense of regret that he was a little hard on him this morning and realized once again that he could never be harsh to this big guy.

The kids all exclaimed and covered their eyes.

“How come you said ‘Guys!’ and went to Cheol?” Minho asked, to which Chan stuck his tongue out in response.

“Anyways, what are you doing here?”

“The hell you mean?! We were worried to death!”

“I’m all okay, aren’t I?” Chan said as he led them to the table.

“Mom, Dad, these are my friends. Chaeyoun, Soobin, Wooyoung, and Yeonjun,” He pointed at them as he talked, then turned to his friends, “And these are my parents-in-law.”

The kids, in sync, stood up, bowed, and returned to their seats.

After they sat down, the servants brought out all kinds of food and placed it on the table in front of them. Everything looked incredibly expensive.

“Seungcheol-ah. Can’t Channie and you live here? We miss him…”

Seungcheol’s father sighed and asked with hope. Seungcheol frowned and shook his head. It was so funny that they were treating the kid they had almost killed like this.

“What are you saying, Dad! Do you want to disturb a young, healthy, fruitful couple?”

Minho laughed as he shook his head, mocking his father's proposal. If they were to live together, Seungcheol and Chan would be more like brothers rather than a couple.

The kids seemed to have finished eating and were all getting up to explore the big house. Seungcheol was left with his already distant and shattered family. In fact, they didn’t even know what to say now. Let alone where to start. Too heavy of an atmosphere.

“Son…”

Mrs. Choi held her son’s hand and Seungcheol only then realized how much he had missed his mom’s gentle touch for so long.

“We want to meet your in-laws… And we want to have a big wedding after Channie graduates and even have your marriage license certificated.” His father said.

“Indeed… You’ll agree, honey, right?”

Seungcheol was almost too happy to see the same parents who had loved and cherished him when he was little. Then he nodded slowly.

Chapter Text

Seungcheol seemed to be tired of watching Chan run around looking for something and turned away to finish plating their breakfast. He’s too unorganized for his own good, always forgetting where he left things and wasting time looking for them.

“Hyung, I can’t find my gym shoes.”

Chan opened the shoe cabinet by the entrance and took out a bunch of sneakers in various colors and shapes, but couldn’t find the one he was looking for.

“Aren’t there dozens of them lying right in front of you?”

Seungcheol arranged a couple of meals on the table, astonished at his husband, who had an overflowing amount of sports shoes but still wanted more.

“I just got them! The white ones? I bought them for the championship.” Chan replied in a dejected tone.

“Idiot, they were in the back of the car.”

Seungcheol chuckled, ridiculing his husband’s memory that’s worse than his own. Then he took out a box and started preparing Chan’s lunch for the game. It was the long-awaited male basketball championship of high schools.

Chan was feeling very nervous for some reason. He'd never been this nervous before. Maybe he was excited because Seungcheol was coming to support him. He was unable to come to any of his previous games due to work reasons, but today was their lucky day.

They ate breakfast and were getting ready to leave when Chan suddenly smiled broadly, “You didn’t need to come. You could’ve rested at home today.”

“Liar… You’re dying of joy.”

Seungcheol cackled loudly and followed him out of the door.

“I’m not lying! Mom and Dad are coming to cheer, anyways.”

Seungcheol looked at him in surprise. Yesterday, Mrs. Lee said they couldn’t go. Could it be that their plan’s been delayed? Whatever the reason, Seungcheol was happy. It must be because he really, really likes his in-laws. After the bottle incident, they barely had any contact and very briefly talked yesterday.

They got into the car and fastened their seatbelts. Seungcheol noticed that Chan was too nervous and tried to keep him as calm as possible, “Don’t go crazy when you see me in court! Look at the ball properly and ignore me, okay? Hyung knows he’s good-looking, but I don’t want to make you lose.”

“You make sure you don’t scream like a fan girl when you see me play.” Chan muttered to himself and leaned back on the seat. But he was relatively calmer compared to this morning. He didn’t want to lose his hyung’s trust.

Chan doesn’t understand himself at all. If it meant he wouldn’t disappoint his loved ones, he’d try a million times harder. That’s just the type of person he is. Like the math test. Perhaps that’s why Seungcheol knew for sure he was going to win. His little guy had been working hard for this game, after all.

“Kiss for good luck!”

Chan’s lips pouted forward before he got out of the car and Seungcheol couldn’t help but smile and kiss him on the forehead. As he backed away, Chan grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him into a long kiss that went on for longer than it was.

“See, that’s not how you kiss! Old people are so not romantic.”

Chan stuck his tongue out and got out of the car.

They entered the court and saw the first two schools already facing each other in a match. Chan went to the lockers to change while Seungcheol tried to find a seat near his students. He could see familiar faces, some girls from their school and a few teachers he works with.

Seungcheol had never liked overcrowded spaces, and this wasn’t an exception. It somehow became worse when the first game came to a stop and the next teams started warming up.

He realized that Chan wasn't coming out any time soon and took out his phone to try to fill the time. He couldn't find anything else to do, since he wasn't exactly a sports person. He likes nerdy stuff and art is his life. He probably would’ve married classical art and music if Chan had rejected him through and through.

Seungcheol wonders, he’s very punctual. He doesn’t get excited about anything, and he always looks dignified. Is he from a noble bloodline?

But all of this parade doesn’t work in front of only one person… Chan.

Chan defies all laws of Cheol-ics and completely tramples on his pride and dignity. Seungcheol has done so much stupid shit because of Chan. But he would embarrass himself all over again if it meant he’d marry Chan again in his next life.

A tap on the shoulder interrupted his wandering thoughts. Seungcheol looks up from his phone and his eyes widen several sizes.

“M-mom? Dad?”

Seungcheol was already shocked from seeing his parents in the most unlikely place, but then he saw everything else. Their million guards, all in black suits and ties, were holding up banners and posters of Chan with dingly plushy Chan dangling on their heads. His parents wore t-shirts with a big Chan-face on them.

“What the fuck… What are you doing here?”

Everyone at the court had already started eyeing them and whispering among themselves. They obviously all knew his parents. They were basically royalties in Korea!

“What do you mean what? Obviously we’re here to support our son!”

“Why did I not hear about this?”

“We thought Chan told you yesterday!”

Seungcheol didn’t care that they came, just extremely immensely embarrassed by what they were wearing. Maybe they’ve finally gone mad.

So they were the mom and dad Chan was talking about.

The whispers didn’t die down. Seungcheol covered his face and found a seat in the furthest corner of the court. Because who in the world would come like this to just another student’s game in their son’s class? People were making assumptions after assumptions, all gossiping with each other.

Soon after, Chan came out to the field and people started screaming. Seungcheol was aware that he had made a name for himself, but wow.

It seemed like he’d already spotted the black suit bunch. He shamelessly waved with a big smile. He really wasn’t embarrassed even a little. Amazing…

The competition was fierce and long. His parents screamed and shrieked until Seungcheol was genuinely starting to get worried about their throats. He watched Chan and whenever they made eye contact, Seungcheol tried to eye-tell him that he was embarrassed as hell but Chan just winked at him every time.

Actually, the more he looked at Chan, he realized he might never be able to baby him again. The guy on the court wasn’t his husband anymore. With thick eyebrows furrowed and sweat running down his face, he wasn’t the same guy who loved his OJs and would mop around the house complaining about a new soap drama.

The championship ends with Chan’s team’s sheer superiority, a gold medal, and an MVP for Chan. His parents nearly cried, hugging each other as they left. Seungcheol sat quietly, proud of his guy.

Chan dragged his exhausted body into the house while Seungcheol carried his gym bag and medals in. They go straight to the bedroom, belly full from the black-card-funded meal. Chan sits with the big parents-in-law-funded stuffed otter and decides to take a shower first.

Seungcheol was pretty tired too. The championship dragged on for four more hours than it was supposed to, so he didn’t have the mental preparations needed.

“Young man, why do you look like my husband?!”

Seungcheol chuckled at the stuffed animal. It seems like his parents really loves Chan. They said they wore the shirts because he asked. Looks like doing embarrassing things for Chan runs in the family.

Despite recent events, his mom always wore heels and set her gaze above everyone. Wealthy people are born that way. They have to be flawless constantly. But now they do things without worrying about anything just because Chan wanted them to. Seungcheol can’t even explain how astonishing this is.

But…

What is he going to do about the rumors that broke out today? Another headache to worry about…

Chapter Text

Seungcheol stood at the board, explaining sets of numbers as the students listened attentively. As usual, he glances back occasionally to make sure everyone was following, his low pitched voice filling the entire classroom alongside the rhythmic scrape of chalk.

Chan sighs exasperatedly. “How am I supposed to focus when there’s a God’s masterpiece right in front of me? Look at that! Those stupid girls are staring at his ass again.”

Chaeyoun chuckled under her breath but said nothing. Normally, she would respond with how Mr. Choi’s tight pants are framing his ass perfectly and the girls are valid for staring.

The silence made Chan a bit suspicious. “Chaeyoun, you mad at me or something?”He couldn’t think of anything that he did wrong.

“Not really…”

“Then why are you sitting like your mouth is sewn shut?”

“Because It is.”

Chan let out a small breathy laughter and leaned in closer to whisper. “Well, I need you to clam me down because I’m might die from jealousy right now.”

Chaeyoun quickly shook her head a few times and forced herself to pay attention to the blackboard, or at least she pretended to. She couldn’t talk to him. She really needed a good math grade.

“Mr. Lee, are you listening?” Seungcheol called out his husband who’s been staring at Chaeyoun for the last ten minutes and tapped on the board with a few frustrated knocks.

Why was he still not paying attention in class? Seungcheol thought he’d learned his lesson last time.

“Y-Yes sir!”

“Come out and solve this problem then.”

Just great. The end of the world!

Of course, he hadn’t understood a thing. He wasn’t even listening. His mind had been all over the place, stuck between staring at someone’s ass and trying to figure out someone else’s problem.

He stood in front of the board for a minute, frozen under Seungcheol’s gaze, before turning to his classmates in silent plea. But as expected, that was a stupid idea.

He looked at his husband again, puffed his cheeks full of air, and pouted, pushing two fingers against the enlarged cheeks. Seungcheol’s heart nearly stopped. The aegyo was a weapon that Chan brings out only to ask for something Cheol was likely to resfuse or when he’s in trouble.

The class laughed at his ridiculous trick and he was let off with a “I’ll let you off this time,” and a knowing glare that couldn’t quite hide the love in it.

Turning back to the board, he tried to hide his red face and calm his racing heart. It was as if Chan had dug a hole, told Seungcheol exactly where it was, and he’d still walked right into it.

“Dino-yah, is Mr. Choi your cousin?”

Chan rolled his eyes. That was the 10th time this morning. Why did everyone care so much? It was really none of their business.

“No… Actually I guess yeah, he kind of is…”

He sighed as the guy nodded and walked away. If he said no, they would’ve just kept asking.

Even though he was the one who’d asked his in-laws to quite literally announce that the school’s star athlete was somehow related to their math teacher, he hadn’t really thought through the consequences.

“Mr. Choi’s parents must be the most amazing people on earth. Rich, kind, and look at how much they love you. Will I get in-laws like yours?” Wooyoung complained poking at his food.

Chan grinned with pride. A few weeks ago, he’d been terrified of them, but now he realized they weren’t as scary as he thought. More than the sophisticated, responsible type like Seungcheol or their perpetually old-souled Minho, they probably just needed someone chaotic, someone who didn’t have a care in the world.

“Anyways, Chaeyoun, what is up with you? Also, Wooyoung, where is your weird morning hug? Seriously, why am I alone on one side of the table and why are you guys all squashed over there? Do I smell bad?” Chan frowned as they all avoided his gaze.

“No, nope. It’s not like that.” They all averted their eyes.

Yeonjun cleared his throat, tray in hand. “Anyways. I’m done eating. Gonna, uhm, go back to class.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I’m pretty full too.”

“Take your time, Dino.”

One by one, they left Chan alone and filled with confusion. What the fuck? Did he actually do something wrong?

He sat there, playing with the food he was no longer interested in, when someone suddenly grabbed him by the neck. Chan, surprised, looked over to see Vernon.

“Where’d your friends go?”

Chan shrugged and looked away with a sigh.

“Uh-oh. Seems like Seungcheol hyung did something.”

“What does that mean?”

At Chan’s question, Vernon spoke between bites, eyes scanning across the cafeteria. “He threatened me yesterday. Oh my God, this radish is funky. Anyways, he said something like, I’ll blah blah blah if you get close to Channie. But of course, who am I? Vernon fucking Choi. Didn’t falter a bit. He probably said the same to your friends. Okay bye, I gotta go.”

With that, Vernon ran off to a bright blue-haired boy standing in the lunch line. Whether it was because he just recently transferred here from America, or because of he’d blatantly ignored the school dress code, the blue head was getting popular among the students.

“So it was hyung’s doing?”Chan muttered, standing up. “Fine, be that way, Choi Seungcheol!” Isn’t he too jealous? What if something happens ‘cause of it?

“Choi Seungcheol!!”

A voice cut through Cheol’s peaceful walk from the school to his car. It, of course, belonged to his lovely baby husband.

“Hm? What happened? Why are you using my name so suddenly?”

He glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before opening his arms for a hug—which immediately got declined.

“I don’t know! Why don’t you tell me about how you threatened my friends?!”

Chan hit his chest lightly, crossing his arms with an adorable pout that made Seungcheol laugh despite himself.

“I didn’t, though.”

“Sure, sure. Then why are they avoiding me like I’m some kind of a worm?”

“Perhaps… you are a worm?”

Seungcheol burst into laughter and turned to walk away, only for Chan to grab his arm and pull him back. He didn’t appreciate the mocking grin, or the fact that Seungcheol was looking down on him (literally).

“Tell me what you did right now or I’m gonna tell Mom and Dad! Also, stop treating me like a kid!”

“Oh, really?”

Seungcheol kissed his pouty lips and squeezed him in a hug, running out of patience already. Why is this brat so cute?

“Fine. I won’t tell them if you kiss me again.”

Cheol noticed Chan’s eyes drop to his lips and laughed as he pecked him once more.

This weird, childish guy might really wreck Seungcheol. Why does he always turn into a little kid whenever they fight? That’s probably why Cheol always gives in to him.

But then out of nowhere, a loud noise rang out. Seungcheol’s eyes widened as he instinctively pushed Chan away, who also covered his face in panic.

“Amazing. What am I looking at here?”

Chapter Text

Caught up in the madness called love, two years had already passed. It felt like only yesterday when Cheol imagined love to be something completely different.

That small space in his mind that once formed thoughts now held only him — that boy who made him realize how powerless he truly was. Even now, every time he saw Chan, he saw the boy who he never thought would belong to me.

But now, he’s his. Completely, undeniably his. The boy who came into his life to share all the joy and pain, his little guy.

As they walked hand in hand out of the school gates, Chan turned around and gave one last long look at the school, as Seungcheol had done before.

Only this time, it really was the end.

Seungcheol still didn’t understand how everything happened so fast, but if this is what destiny had in store for him, he wasn’t afraid to face it.

The man sitting cross legged on a black leather chair glanced at Seungcheol in worry before sighing.

“Seungcheol… The number of complaints filed by parents who wants you fired has gone over 60 in just one week. I tolerated it because I didn’t want to fire a talented employee like you. You are an amazing teacher. In only two years, the students have improved significantly. Even in national olympiads, our school kept charting on top. But how did something like this happen?”

Seungcheol listened quietly as the principal talked.

“Parents are going crazy. They don’t even want to send their kids to a school with a gay teacher. They’re afraid that you’ll have a bad influence on the students. You know it, Seungcheol. People think homosexuality is a mental disease. Please accept my deepest apologies… but I’ll have to fire you. I’ll arrange the documents to make it look like you quit so it won’t be a bother to look for a new job. Again, I’m really sorry. For firing you for loving somebody’s son.”

His mind was blank. He had known this would happen — the whispers in the hallways, the disapproving stares, the anonymous complaints. But knowing didn’t make it hurt any less.

He had never once thought of his love as something wrong. Yet now, sitting in the principal’s office, he was being told that love—something so pure, something that gave him purpose—was enough to destroy everything he had worked for.

“Love isn’t a crime,” he whispered faintly, more to himself than to the man before him.

Mr. Kim looked at him with pity in his eyes but said nothing. There were no words left that could make this any easier.

Seungcheol took a deep breath and bowed slightly. “I understand, sir. I’ll clear out my office tomorrow.”

The principal nodded, guilt still written all over his face. “Thank you for your understanding… and please, Seungcheol, take care of yourself.”

Seungcheol turned around to leave when the principal added, “One more thing. Chan beat up another student. You know how he is… Too prideful for his own good. He already beat up 5 students who insulted his sexuality this week. For now, it can be covered as self defense. But what if some day, it is more serious than a few bruises? He’ll be expelled. I… suggest that you transfer him before that happens.”

Seungcheol nodded lifelessly and bowed once again before leaving the room, the air in the hallway felt colder than usual. Students’ voices echoed in the distance—laughter, chatter, life going on as if nothing had changed.

But everything had.

He could already imagine Chan’s reaction when he found out. That boy, with his stubborn pride and fierce heart — he’d be furious, ready to fight the entire world if it meant protecting him.

But Seungcheol couldn’t let that happen. Not again.

He had already caused enough trouble for the person he loved most.

When he finally reached the school gates, he stopped for a moment and looked back, as if it was the last time.

In the car, Seungcheol smiled silently, trying to piece his thoughts together. Maybe they could change some things—start a new life together. Chan would graduate in just two months. If he could hold on until then, they could get married, and they could officially get married. Perhaps they could move to a better apartment, he could attend a better school.

But Seungcheol himself? He wasn’t sure. Maybe one day he could find a job. Maybe he’d make Chan’s lunch every morning, plant a soft kiss on his cheek as he left, and wait for him with a warm meal when he came home in the evening.

He chuckled quietly at his own thoughts and looked at Chan, but he was already staring at him. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat, and his cheeks warmed. When was the last time they were caught looking at one another?

But then he caught the sadness in his eyes. Of course, Seungcheol knew Chan had lost friends, but what already happened can’t altered. No matter how tempted Seungcheol was to do just that right now.

“Why aren’t you accepting my request?”

Chan’s voice wavered between anger and hurt, and Seungcheol stared at him, completely taken aback. What request?

“What?” He stammered.

“Why haven’t you accepted the request I sent? You accepted Chaeyoun’s and Soobin’s right away! But mine… mine has been waiting for almost ten days! What are you hiding? Did you end up with someone else? Is that it? Are they cuter than me?”

Seungcheol froze, almost causing an accident. What is he talking about? Why is he angry so suddenly?

“I’m talking about Instagram, you idiot! You didn’t even tell me you had one!”

He looked at him, slightly puzzled by what he’d said. Cheol remembers asking Chan to make his account private because he didn’t know how to. Had he just forgotten? But in any case, surely that can’t be the reason why he’s been sad?

“I thought you were upset because of your friends.”

“What do you mean? It’s not like I’m going abroad. Korea’s small so we can meet anytime. But now—tell me why you haven’t accepted my request!”

Seungcheol laughed at Chan. How could someone be this sweet? The way he thought, the way he worried, it was all adorable. If he was to think about anyone, it would only ever be Chan. No one else.

“I haven’t been on Instagram for the past ten days. I’m sorry, my love.”

Chan wrinkled his nose and nodded. His anger probably hadn’t calmed down yet but they needed to get home first.

They finally got home and ordered a quick meal. Neither of us had much to eat during the day while sorting out their problems. Handing over his work to another teacher had been a bit of a hassle, too.

“Aha!” Chan cheered, coming out of his room and plopping down next to his hyung on the couch while they waited for the delivery man. “Mother-in-law just called.”

Great. They hardly ever spoke to Cheol, yet they talked to Chan every single day.

Seungcheol missed his parents-in-law too. They’d said they were really busy. They had been a little upset when they heard what happened, but it seemed to have worked out okay.

“She said she’s gonna enroll me at a private school. The one you went to. Isn’t that great, hyung?”

Chan’s words brought back memories of his high school days. He’d never liked school. It had been full of arrogant bullies from wealthy families, and even the teachers seemed more interested in money and social class than in teaching. The school wasn’t about learning. Just another business, a networking hall at best.

“I think it’s better if you just go to another public school.”

“Hyung, don’t you get it? I graduate in two months. A senior can’t waste time like this. I need to be in school by Monday. Public schools are not gonna take me now. Especially with this grade. I’d rather just go to that school. Plus I wanna have a try at being a rich kid too.”

Seungcheol sighed and nodded. He could never argue with this kid.

Knowing Chan, he’d probably make a lot of friends again, thrive in a place like that… and who knew what else he’d get up to.

He groaned inwardly, tired from just thinking about it.