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Chapter Text

Lee Heeseung

Professor

Strict ,calm

Age : 25

Park Sunghoon

Student

Headstrong , mischievous

Age : 21

Nishimura riki

Student 

Soft and understanding boy , but can become Fierce when needed. 

Age :18

Chapter Text

In college , students were playing  football , their roaring sounds echoing around the field . After the practice, Sunghoon came and sank into a chair , slightly panting as he gulp down the water .

"Heard a new professor is coming" jake said , sitting near sunghoon

Sunghoon didn't say anything , but jake knew  he was listening , so he continued .

"I heard that he's really strict . But I don't know how he looks like . Probably around 40 , with a belly and maybe a beard" Jake guessed .

" You think ? " sunghoon asked ,not looking at him.

" Yeah . In our college , most of the staff are over  30 , so I guess the coming professor will be old too .

" This time,  it won't be "  sunghoon replied , wiping off the sweat from his neck with a small turkish clothe .

"Huh ? what do you mean ?" Jake was intrigued .

"It's  not just one professor is coming .  Instead, three will be joining " sunghoon declared , raising  from his seat with his stuffs before heading towards his locker .

" How do you know about all this?, when you are not the gossip person" Jake asked , walking along with sunghoon.

"Heard it from dad " who was the principal of their college .

" Ohh , anything else he said? "  jake inquired further .

" He did , but I wasn't really listening " sunghoon said as he pulled out fresh clothes from his locker.

" Why  am I not surprised " Jake chuckled , shaking his head in amusement . 

________________

After changing  in the locker room ,they both stepped outside with their belongings. They shared a dorm  with two other students , jungwon and niki who would be probably off causing headache for some people . Who wants nothing , just a bit of peace in there fucked up life - buy could they have that ? peace was definitely out of reach, when those two were around.

Jungwon and niki might look like angels,  but they weren't . Infact , they were pure devil's in angelic bodies.

Buckling his seatbelt , Jake asked,  "should we get something for them to have tonight ? " 

Sunghoon was driving , his gaze were on the road , " sure " 

" Hoon " 

" Mm ?" 

Jake spoke,  somewhat dazedly , " I forgot to tell u something  " 

" What ?" not taking his eyes off  the road .

" This Morning , on the way to college, I  bumped in to a stranger.  Before he  could fall hard on the ground , I caught him in my arm . He was a bit taller than me, with sharp features , but suprisingly he felt so ....... delicate in my arms

Jake hesitated, then continued ." I dunno whether it's love at first sight or what , but I just want to know him , I have seen many pretty people before , but I've never felt this way about someone I barely saw for a few minutes - or maybe seconds "

He leaned his head against the car window." I am not gonna search for him , though . If we're destined to be ,  we will meet again somehow."

Jake's  love life hadn't been good before . Back in school , he only had one relationship , and it didn't end well . The girl had only been with him for his money . When he found out her true nature, he ended things , but during the breakup , she threw some harsh words at him  , " If anybody ever wants you , it'll only be for your money and looks , not for who you really are  " 

Sunghoon glanced at jake for a second . He knew about Jake's  breakup and how much he had suffered because of it . He know jake  had mostly moved on, but  the hurt from her words still lingered ,   "you will meet him " sunghoon said quietly.

Jake narrowed his eye to him ,"how ?"

Sunghoon shrugged ," just a hunch " 

Jake took a deep breath, " most of the time , your hunch come true . Let's see if it does this time  " 

______________

They both entered their dorm and went to their room to change for the night . While they doing their homework , they heard a familiar voice 

" I want icecream , but you didn't let me have it " niki argued with Jungwon as he walk into the dorm 

Jungwon took off his shoes and placed them neatly to the side , " it's not good for you at night . Beside, you didn't even have your dinner " 

" But hyung - " ,niki started,  but when he saw Sunghoon hyung, he walked over to him and started complaining Jungwon.

Sunghoon stopped his work , now fully focusing on his boy , "did u had your dinner ? ", he asked , completely ignoring niki's complaint .

Niki stopped  complaining , lowered his head and replied in his meek voice , "no." 

Sunghoon got up and went to the kitchen to reheat the dinner they'd bought. "first ,  have your dinner " sunghoon eyes meet niki's  "then I will see , whether you can have icecream or not " 

Hearing sunghoon hyung's words , niki started eating.

The Other three watched their younger one with fond smile . They had found him when he was around 15, now he was 18 . For the past three year , they were taking care of him . Niki was not completely abounded by his parents,  but he was definitely neglected  . They sent  money for his studies, but that was it .' no - how are you ? Are you ok there ? ' Nothing .

When they found him , he was staying in a dorm all by himself . After getting to know him , they'd grown  to love him . Niki had been so timid back then , but now he'd fully opened up to them .

Still, niki was shy around strangers ,and people often misunderstood him as  rude . No one understand like these three boys did.

They'd do anything for niki . 

But they couldn't play with niki' s health . If he ate icecream at night , he would definitely catch a cold , and they can't do that to him .

After eating and sharing his day with sunghoon , niki completely forgot about the icecream.

You see , niki loved all  of them equally,  but sometimes with sunghoon he felt more safe 

Jungwon was his partner in crime 

Jake was his friend , alway ready to do anything for him 

But sunghoon was the one he shared his daily day life with . He dunno why , but he was attached to sunghoon hyung  like no other. With him , he felt  calm . The other two might fall for his charms , but not sunghoon hyung . He mostly keep him in line .

_________

In the middle of the night, sunghoon  couldn't sleep and got up from bed . While pacing around the room , his eyes caught his own reflection in his mirror .

He stood there silently, staring at  himself , unable to avert his gaze . Nostalgia washed over him ,and shut his eyes , trying to push his memories back . He then went to the kitchen to drink some cool water , hoping it might help him fall asleep .

Coming back in his room , he sat on the bed for a while , untill , he felt his eyes begging to close , sleepiness clouded him . He slowly lay down , drifting back into deep slumber,  hoping to get few hours of sleep .

Chapter Text

"wow, super. I have to get up early and cook for them, but the sleepy beauties won't even wakeup. They're no use in cooking, but  can't they at least wakeup on their own ?" jay grumbled, while  cooking breakfast for all three of them.

Jay shouted from the kitchen, "heeseung, sunoo wakeup!" but he know they wouldn't even move an inch. Infact, they would sleep even deeper as if his shouts were lullabies to them .

After cooking, he arranged the dinning table and went  back to their shared bedroom. Don't think they didn't have   separate rooms - they did. They just sometimes likes to pile into the same room to sleep together.

"Hey, you -"

Jay stops mid-sentence at the sight  infront of him. Sunno was sitting up,  leaning against the headboard with his phone in one hand. His other hand was softly stroking heeseung's hair who was using Sunoo's lap as a pillow.

He know heeseung rarely slept at night, so seeing him peacefully lying on sunoo brought a sense of  contentment. But the world time was not under their control or it will dance as their wish. They have work and responsibilities to take care of.

"Thank god one sleeping beauty is wakeup, but other one is still in his dreamland" hearing Jay's voice, heeseung shifted slightly in his sleep and slowly opend his eyes .

Jay sighed, "don't you guys know, its the first day of college . Where we are gonna  work?" 

Sunno put his phone on the side , "yes, taping heeseung  to wake up . Heeseung just rolled other side ,away from sunno.

Sunoo got out of the  bed and walked over to  jay, pulling him into a warm hug , "don't stress urself" mumbled against Jay's neck .

"We know, you're stressed about first day of college . That's why you wakeup earlier than usual and started cooking , cause it's your stress reliever. But relax, we still have plenty of time for college so cool down" sunoo said softly, stroking Jay's lower back .

After reassuring jay, Sunoo left to  freshen up .

Jay turned to see heeseung still fast asleep. Shaking his head, and gently tapped him. "Hey getup " 

"Mm" heeseung groaned and, in quick move,  pulling jay onto the bed .

Jay yelped , "heyyyy !!, I am not your body pillow! " and murmured "but you think I am " 

________________

Sunghoon slowly wake up from his slumber, trying to grab his mobile from the nightstand  but stopped when he sensed someone in his bed. Turning his head , he saw niki was sleeping beside him. 

"Seriously?" Sunghoon muttered, rubbing his eyes. "this kid."

Maybe niki had came to his room in the middle of night. Sunghoon dunno why , but he liked this kid a lot . Glancing at  the time, he realised it's time for them to get ready - college for him and school for Niki, and it was his last year of school.

He shook niki ,"oi , wake up , u're gonna be late for ur morning class . C'mon"

Niki groaned, buring his face deep into the blanket."5 more minutes"

"Nope, u've already had enough beauty sleep" sunghoon said , pulling the blanket off

"Hyunggg....!" Niki whined, sitting up reluctantly. Still half asleep, he walked in the wrong direction.

"Left" sunghoon said amused, as he pulled out  clothes for niki to wear after freshening up. 

Niki lazily gave a thumbs up before heading  in the right direction.

After having their breakfast, jake, sunghoon and jungwon were getting ready to leave for college. Jake nudged Niki, who slumped on the couch."Yo, kiddo, don't fall asleep again. U've got  school"

"Which I hate to the core" niki grumbled, standing up. "but why do mornings even exists?"

Sunghoon ruffled niki's hair ."go on before, I drag u there myself" he playfully retorted

"Alright, alright, geez ! I'm going" niki said rolling his eyes but smiling as he headed out.

___________________

In college , every one was in a hurry burry , scrambling to make it to their first class in time.

But not these three.

The three of them walking like a sloth , unbothered by the chaos around them. 

Rules ? Who cared ?  being the  principal's son sunghoon didn't, and the other two just didn't give a damn.

One thing was certain, thou, they were good at what they do. Excellent grade, good in athletes - they had it all. Because of that, no one dared to question their behaviour .

When they finally reached the classroom, they froze at the door. Standing there was not their usual  professor but a new, young one. Sharp features, formal clothe, and has an aura of authority - he looked more like a wealthy ceo than a college professor .

The New professor narrowed his eyes at them , "late"

Jungwon beamed, "yes, late !" as if  he'd won an award.

The New professor's sharp gaze landed on jake , who locked eye with him . Suddenly, it felt like time had stopped as the two stared eachother down, neither breaking eye contact . 

Sunghoon glanced at them and  quickly connect the dots . Oh and knows what was going on . 

Meanwhile, Jungwon, completely clueless. "Uh ... R u to done with the staring competition?."

The professor, Jay came out of his daze first , but jake didn't, "no"

Jay slightly shake his head at his response, "don't come late to class again. Go take ur seats." 

Jay noticed some students  giving him  heart eyes, but he was immune to them and ignored them like a plague. But what he couldn't shake was the person who had stared at him earlier.

Jay introduced , "Alright , u all  know I am ur new professor. I will be handling this ......  and lastly, myself, Park .Jay "

Throughout the lecture, jay could feel one particular student's unwavering gaze on him and knew exactly who it was, but he refused to meet their eyes . Even so, his thoughts kept wandering back to the certain person as he continued with the class .

________________

In cafeteria , Jake asked suspiciously , "do you know any black magic, dude ?." 

Sunghoon shrugged ," guess " 

Jake was happy to see jay again . He knew they had a 4years age gap , but he mind less of that  .

Suddenly,  sunghoon received a call from niki's school.

Upon  hearing what happened, he abruptly stood up from his chair , his expression unreadable. Jake, sensing  something was wrong , didn't ask questions and followed him . 

Both rushed outside . In his hurry,  sunghoon bumped into Someone . Without looking back he apologized and kept going.

In force of the collision caused heeseung to stumble back , but he was caught by sunoo .

Heeseung consider asking why they were running  but decided against it . From their hurry, he could sense something serious was going on. Even in  hurry they apologized , so it's ok .

Sunghoon and jake arrived at niki's school and headed straight to the principal's office . Outside, they found niki standing along with a few other students.

They walked over to him . Sunghoon lifted niki's chin to make eye contact. His gaze hardened when he saw bruise on niki's  face , but he didn't say or ask anything at the moment.

They walked into principal's office, where a boy with a bruised face was already standing . His parents were arguing with the principal .

The boy's mother turn to  niki , her expression twisting with  anger" how dare you to do this to my son!"she shout .

Niki remained silent, which only seems to anger her more . Her eyes flicked to jake and sunghoon ,and she sneered,  "they asked you to bring ur parents , not some college students" neither of them reacted to her insult , maintaining calm demeanor as if her words went to deaf ears .

The Principal cleared his throat and addressed niki ." he says you beat him for no reason . I've asked u  about it, but u haven't uttered anything . So now that ur guardian are here, can tell ur side of the story ?"

But niki didn't say anything. Sunghoon lowered himself to niki's height, "hey, care to share what happened " asked in a soft voice .

Hearing sunghoon hyung's gentle tone was niki's breaking point . He couldn't hold it anymore , his tears betrayed him and started flowing silently ," he insulted me for being japanese not korean" niki finally opened his mouth ,voice trembling," said my parents don't love me and that I'm a burden to them. Ik it's true,  but...  it hit me  hard when he voice it out loud. I didn't response , so he got angry and hit me first and I ... I hit him back." 

Sunghoon listened silently and knew others too got their answer.

The lady refused to accept it ,"no!, my son wouldn't do that . He is lying!" 

Sunghoon turned his gaze to her , " then ask your son" whose head was hanging low .

The room fell silent as everyone's eye turned to the boy. His posture said it all .  

Sunghoon asked niki , "do you want to say anything more ?" He could tell from niki's  face that the kid has  something more to vent out .

Without a word , Niki stepped forward, standing infront of  the boy and said , "I  know my parents don't love me , but I also know I'm not a burden to them , cuz I didn't ask them to have sex without a condom , bro "

The room went deathly silent at his unfiltered statement . But Niki was not done."and one  more thing -if you ever eye my sunghoon hyung the wrong way again. I will pluck your eye out of its socket . Don't think I didn't see how you were staring at him " 

For a moment no one spoke . A few minutes ago , niki had looked like a kitten , but now he was roaring like a tiger .

Sunghoon shook his head at the kid for being protective of him , even though the kid was younger than him . 

Why he was calm about the niki's fight earlier was because he He knew his kid too well to know who was at fault, and also know that niki could handle it  himself. Niki only wanted someone to be there for him, to feel that he was not alone. That's what sunghoon was there for. 

Jake couldn't control himself and  laughed loudly after seeing niki being savage ,  "shall we go, charm? " 

Niki's fierce eye softened after hearing Jake's voice ,and he happily said , " yup" 

________________

Past.

Heeseung was walking along the sidewalk on his way to college . Music on , completely blocking  out the outerside world. He was lost in his own bubble , enjoying the moment.  He was not a morning person - definitely not someone who loved walking up early , then getting ready to go out ,and facing humans . But today, he felt unusually fresh and ease at heart .

He dunno why . And honestly, he didn't care.  Let it be that way . Why overthink it ? whatever was meant to happen would happen . He'd wait see , what's special today.

Boom !!!!!!

"Hey !! Did u leave ur ears and eyes at home ?" 

Heeseung barely registered the voice as he pushed to the side . He winced, slowly lifting himself to his feet . His elbow grazed , but he sighed it off . The pain was not much. It has bleed thou .

"Oi ! Are u even in ur senses?. I'm barking like an old man here, and  u're, standing and just staring at ur elbow like u're checking weather the dead skin is gone or not after getting an oil massage" the same  voice barked again .

Finally , heeseung turned to look at the person who'd just saved him from trip to a hospital cause he was too out of the world to notice he had been walking right into the road .

The person standing and barking infront of him was a .... Boy ? 

Yes , definitely a boy . He was wearing a school uniform . But why was he  frowning at heeseung, like he had done something wrong to him ? 

Chapter Text

Niki was devouring his food as if it would fly off  his plate if he didn't finish it in a snap.

Sunghoon, amused, "the food is not going anywhere, niki" 

Niki swallowed, "it might be" and gave a side eye to Jungwon. 

Jungwon noticed this and felt offended, "heyy!" He protested, but his annoyance quickly melted away, as his eyes shifted, turning into hearts.

Niki saw the change in expression and followed jungwon's gaze, spotting a man similar to Jungwon height was chatting with  two others - all professors. Ahhh 

Smirking, niki turned towards jungwon. Noticing the smirk, jungwon didn't feel any good, "whatever you're gonna spill, keep it to yourself ."

Niki batted his lashes innocently, "but ,I am not planning to do such thing. I'm just minding my love " showing his food.

Jungwon scoffed , "sureeee"

He turned towards jake and sunghoon who were deep into football discussion,"hey , guys."

Jake and sunghoon stop their chat, now their full attention on Jungwon , "what?" jake asked.

"The new professors are hot as fuck " jungwon blurted out. Which they didn't expect. 

Niki snickered."now u're going after older people, huh ?."

Jungwon glared "I didn't remember of saying I'm going after them."

Sunghoon shook his head at their behaviour and looked down at his phone. He was not in the mood for such thing.

Jungwon stopped bantering with the younger when he noticed sunghoon is not paying attention "hey, i am gonna say something spicy, listen !, hey - hear me out. Where are u going?!" 

Sunghoon grabbed his stuff and stood up,"I have some business in the library and u can tell all ur spicy to jake " with that he dragged a munching niki along with him.

Jungwon whined dramatically , "hyungggggg , don't go!" Extending his hand theatrically towards sunghoon as he walk away .

________________

Sunghoon and niki headed to the library. It was one of sunghoon's favourite spot in college. So peaceful and quiet. 

Niki's school ended in the afternoon, so after class, he'd mostly come to the college. During break time, he hung out  with the hyungs, and over time, he got some good friends here.

Mr . Park, sunghoon's father aka the college principal, adorned niki like his own son. Sometimes, people joked that Mr. Park might actually planning to disown his sunghoon and adopt niki instead.

Being favourite, Niki had the privilege of coming to college anytime he wanted, and everyone  loved having him around.

Sunghoon pulled out a book from his bag and started reading . he had already done halfway through, and  It was pretty  entertaining and keeping him engaged. Meanwhile, niki wandered off to find one for himself.

Staring at the shelves , Niki sighed dramatically "gosh , why so many books here ?" 

"Well, there is a reason why they call it a library, uk" said a tall man, his eyes scanning the shelves. He was an inch taller than sunghoon hyung. Oh wait isn't he was with the man jungwon had been drooling over earlier.

"Need help ?" the man asked, not even bothering to look up from the book track .

Niki just started at him, wondering if the man came from another planet or something. How was niki supposed to take him as a human when he talked in a monotone.

The man didn't get a response, but he  didn't seems to care. He kept searching for a book for himself - and maybe for the boy too.

Thinking the man was about to leave, niki panicked and grabbed  his wrist , "need help" he could't afford to roam around and browse through all the track just to get a single book.

The man glanced down at the hand on his wrist, his expression remain blank.  Niki had no intention of letting go until  the man help him.

"ok" the man finally said. Honestly, he was planning to pick a book for the kid anyway .

Niki finally let go of his wrist and pouted. Can't he smile? But he was cool since the elder was helping him find a book 

"I am niki" niki introduced himself, flashing a hopeful grin.

"Heeseung" the man replied briefly.

"So ... Do u read a lot?" Niki asked, trying to keep their conversation going. He wasn't usually chatty with strangers, but this man was making him do things he usually wouldn't do on a first meeting.

Heeseung, nonchalantly"yeah"

Niki blinked."wow. U're really a chatterbox, huh?"

Heeseung's gaze stopped for a moment, and a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips."u could say that" 

A moment later, Heeseung handed  niki a book and walked away without another word.

"Wow, he is even stranger than sunghoon hyung" niki muttered.

He headed back to  sunghoon's table and plopped down across from him.

Without lifting his head, sunghoon asked, "why this much time ?" 

"There were to many , hyung! Do you guys seriously read every single one here?  Anyway , there was many so I couldn't decide , then one man came and helped me out"  showing the book.

Sunghoon finally looked up and meet niki's gaze , "did you thank him?" 

Niki's eyes widened ,"oh shit ! I didn't - but he left right after giving me the book" 

"It's ok" sunghoon said softly, "just remember, next time someone helps you, make sure to thank them, ok ?" 

Niki saluted, "got it ,hyung." 

Sunghoon smiled, "alright, now get on with your book." 

______________

As heeseung walked  through the hallway, he spotted a gang of boys smoking openly, not caring that the entire college could see them. Some teachers passed by but didn't even bother to stop or warn them , they just ignored it  and kept going.

But Heeseung didn't.

He walked right up to them, snatching the cigarette from one guy's hand, and crushed it with his shoe .

The guy's face darkened with anger."hey what the hell ,man ?" He raised his hand, ready to slap him for what he'd done.

Before he slap could land, heeseung grabbed his wrist firmly. He didn't move, but the other guy's confident wavered.

"Do you know who I am ?" The guy shouted, trying to sound tough."do u know who my father is ? If I report this, he will make sure you loss your job, and u won't get hired anywhere. U're done for!."

Heeseung stared at him , completely unfazed, "finished?" He asked, his voice ice cold ."listen carefully, daddy's pet. If I ever see u - like ever , smoking on campus again or messing with anyone here. I will make sure you  won't finish ur college life peacefully. Not here, not anywhere"

The boy got afraid but he masked it with a fake coolness ," are you believing like a professor?" 

"Are you behaving like a student? "Shot back .

Heeseung let go off the boy's hand and  turned to walk away , but then stopped in his track. He glanced over his shoulder, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Oh , you said something about your dad right?" His eyes glinted "ask him how his business is doing, tell ur dear dad Ethan was asking" with that, he walked away leaving the boys stunned.

______________

Jay leaned causally against the wall, watching heeseung towards him, "I thought you wanted a peaceful life here" while walking to his next class he'd noticed their little scene from a distance.

Heeseung let out a tired sigh."Yeah, some people just won't let me to have it " 

Jay chuckled ,"no matter were u go, u can't seems to avoid trouble, huh? " 

Heeseung raised an eyebrow , "oh, like you can?" 

Jay laughed , "nah, definitely, not " 

The smile faded  as he grew serious ,"but seriously thou, try to be out of trouble still we work here. U can't afford to anger ur dad"

Heeseung leaned against the wall next to jay , gazing up at the sky." yeah " he murmured, tone distant. His dad was not an easy topic . "I will try"

Jay nodded, "u still go by the same name he gave huh ?"he softly asked.

Heeseung closed his eyes for a moment. After a minute of silence, he whispered "it's still precious to me."

Jay didn't say anything more. He knew better than to push. The last thing he wanted was for heeseung  to slip back into that dark place.

But ..

Jay sighed, glancing at heeseung. "R u ok to face him ?" He had already seen the guy in his class. He seemed a little different from him. 

Heeseung gulped, his voice low. "do u think I have any other choice?"

Jay shook his head, he didn't. Heeseung's dad was a whole different breed. After knowing what his son gone through, and he was still making his son hard to breathe. If jay were a cop , Heeseung's dad would have been six feet under by now.

"I dunno. But Be careful, if u ever wanna talk, I'll there" jay wrapped his arm around heeseung's shoulder. What else could he do ? All he can be was the rock that held heeseung up when he crumble and fall apart.

Heeseung looked up at him, eyes little distant. jay and sunno had been his rock all these years. If he was still standing here, it was because of them. They'd kept him sane when everything else was chaos.

And then he bast  into his life like a little firecracker .... before heeseung could fully grasp that maybe he could actually have a life worth living, it all shattered. The dream vanished - no it was taken away from him, leaving him with nothing but broken pieces and the memories.

During his worst days thou his friends stayed by his side, no matter how much he tried to shut them out. They kept coming back for him. Holding him up. Keep him together. Did he even deserve them ?

Heeseung's chest tightened. He wasn't really to accept what had happened. And now his dad had dropped another huge bomb on his head, making everything worse.

Jay noticed the look on his face and squeezed his shoulder. "I won't say ik what it feel like......  because I don't. But Ik it's tough, and u're not alone in this. U have got me and sunoo at every step. We're not going anywhere."

Heeseung gulped, nodded, even if he didn't know how to make sense of things yet. But he was grateful  for having a wonderful friends."thanks jay"

Jay just smiled."anytime"

________________

"What ?! R u joking right now?!" Sunghoon's voice boomed through the house. 

Mr. Park flinched slightly , he could see the fire partially shooting out of his son's eyes. Even thou he had known his son forever. Seeing him this angry was Pretty terrifying. Calm people snapping was no joke, and the living proof was pacing infront him.

Sunghoon never excepted to come home and hear news about his marriage - like seriously his marriage.

"U have got to be kidding me ,dad?. Marriage? Seriously?" Sunghoon's hand flew up in disbelief. "I came home expecting a peaceful dinner, not .... a finance!" Mr park tries to give his input, but sunghoon was not done."I'm 21! Do u hear that ? 21! And u just decided to get a partner and marry me off ?" He wouldn't about to come terms with what he just heard.

"Son , listen-"

"No , u listen!" Sunghoon cut him off, pointing a finger."this isn't some drama where the kid goes ,'oh , ok, dad. I'll Marry a stranger because u said so!' what the hell r u thinking when doing something like this?!"

"He is a hardworking and well settled man-"

"Oh fantastic! Well settled. That's all I need ?" Sunghoon scoffed, shaking his head , but then frowned. "what a sec r u shipping me off to some old man? If u think I like to be a suger baby or worse, that the man wants a male wife , I'm out of this!" 

Mr park blinked, and finally regained his voice."no, he is not that old. He is 25. About suger baby? It's up to u guys wish or what u both prefer in bed. Male wife? Are u a hetero ? No right. Then why would he want a wife when he can have a lovable husband?. But hey , if guys interested into some role play , that's cool too" he finished like he had just solved all of his son's problems . 

Where as said son was glaring at his dad, if looks would kill , Then mr park would have been six feet under. He was really testing sunghoon's patience.

In the background, faint chocking sounds could be heard. With one last glare,  sunghoon stormed off to his room, his footsteps echoing through the home.

Mr park sighed and sat on the chair. Where as niki was stuffing snacks into his mouth.

Mr park glanced at the younger. "do u think I did wrong?"

Without missing a beat. Niki replied."yes"

Mr park shoulders slumped at the blunt response. "I just want him to be happy"

Niki sighed, moving the snack aside and focusing on the older man ." First, u messed up planning his marriage without his consent. Uk how he feels about love and marriage. It's really not fair for him. Second, do u really think he will just go along with this ? Nah right. But I feels like there is  more in to it . What's that, spill ?" Niki could absorb the room. Mr park was hiding something.

Mr park put his hand on his head." He"

Niki's expression softened. He dunno  him personally, but had heard a lot of stories about him. Even thou he didn't know him well, his heart ache for him. And more importantly, he was sunghoon's life. He Still is.

Mr park swallowed hard. "After that incident sunghoon really changed. Before, his whole life revolved around him , but after he was gone, sunghoon slowly started to lose himself. If it's not for u or his friend."a single tear left from his eyes."I would have lost my another son. I can't handle another loss. So, I thought marriage might help. He will have someone by his side and with time he will learn to live again"

Niki licked his lips. He couldn't afford to  lose sunghoon hyung .He knew his hyung always put up a strong facade outside for them, But inside.... Hyung was breaking.

Niki nodded slowly ."aright... So, who is he supposed to get marry?"

Mr park swifted in his place "Mr. Lee's son" he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut 

Niki blinked and screamed,"no way!!" when he didn't heard like 'im joking' no nothing came.

He stared in disbelieve "Hello? R u playing any game here ?" Niki couldn't believe his ears .

Mr park shook his head negatively."no ... Mr. Lee was the one who suggested the proposal"

Niki stammered,"but ... He .. O lord. I dunno about him or his boyfriend. But  Ik his bf was Lee's son. R u serious? They didn't forced him to marry sunghoon because he looks ........" He trailed off, knowing Mr park could get what he was going to say.

Mr park , sighed. "Mr Lee thought sunghoon is good for his son. And I wanted someone responsible and settled for sunghoon. So........ I accept his proposal "

Niki leaned back in the chair."this is not gonna be easily, uncle. Can I atleast see him pic?"

Mr park nodded fishing his phone out, and scrolled through before showing it to niki, and he knew he was gonna get another ear full scream.

"Uncle !!!!!!!!" 

There it is .

Niki's eyes darted between the phone and Mr. park . "He..... He works at ur college " his jaw dropped, the shock evident in his face. " I know this guy"

Mr park winced, rubbing the back of his neck . "Yeah, he is taking a little break from his main job for a bit"

Niki didn't say another word, just kept on staring at the pic , processing the situation. The journey is really gonna be way tougher then he thought after seeing the pic.

Chapter Text

The Next morning, in the park's mansion,  breakfast was loomed with thick tension. The air was sharp even a breath felt challenge. Yet, here our little gremlin, niki, calmly spreading  chocolate on his bread, and savouring it  little by little, enjoying every second without any care in the world.

Meanwhile, Mr park and sunghoon were avoiding one another -well, mostly sunghoon. Mr park kept trying to catch his son's attention, but all his efforts went vain. It was like trying to catch a fly. Hopeless

But tired ? Oh ,no. He wasn't giving up that easily. 

"Today we're going to ur in law's home so be back by 5" Mr park announced, as if he was not satisfied with the stoke he gave to his son last night and was now planning to give him a whiplash.

Sunghoon shot him a glare, sharp enough to make u piss. Thou, the older park avoided it with pratice ease

He had two sons, who were alike. So he was a pro at dodging  lazer like glare.

"Dad ! When did I say I'm ok with this so called marriage u created?" Sunghoon trying his best to stay calm, but there was a dangerously edge to it. Which cannot be missed, but older park will, duh.

"U didn't, but u will thank me later " Mr park countered, cool and completely unfazed.

Niki gulped the juice down his throat. The drama was getting spicy, and it was only the beginning

"Dad, I'm not a kid. U can't just decide my life for me" sunghoon snapped, his voice shaking a little.

"Who's deciding?" Mr park asked."I'm just guiding u"

Sunghoon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, more like pushing me off a cliff"

Mr park leaning back, ignoring his remark."be ready by 5"

"I'm not going" sunghoon muttered through clenched teeth.

Mr park smiled, a little to smug ."we will see"

Niki, still munching his bread. This day is gonna be wild.

_______

Heeseung busy teaching his class, focused and precise, he doesn't like being sloppy.  The sound of footsteps outside the door barely registered his mind. Without sparing a glance, he continued teaching, ignoring the presence outside the door.

After an enjoyable chat with his old man. Sunghoon arrived his class late, which was not new here. But him standing outside the class was new. His gaze settled on the professor's back. And he  picked up immediately it was one of the new hires.

Sunghoon was somewhat amused by the new professor's behaviour towards him. No one - I mean no one had ever behaved like this to him. Professor's usually let him do whatever he want. Intersting

"Can I come in ?" He asked casually, expecting the usual immediate nod.

Silence

The professor didn't even turn. Sunghoon leaned against the door frame, eyes fixed on the man's composed posture.

After finishing writing on the board. Heeseung finally turned to check the late comer, only to find doorway empty.  His gaze swifted across the class, where the students seated quietly like it was their daily routine .

"Reckless" heeseung mumbled under his breath .

Walking down the hall. Sunghoon muttered."Perfectionist".

_________

Heeseung was sitting in his room, which was allotted for him by the college management, working on his laptop , when his phone ring. Without checking the caller ID, he answered.

"Hello?" 

A raspy voice spoke from the other side ,"you good there ?"

Heeseung paused his typing, rolling his eyes ,"I'm fine dad"

Mr . Lee's tone turned sharp, "Alright, enjoy being a professor all u want, but once u're back, u will take over the work you abandoned.'

"Ok, dad" it was like a automatic response. He thought their chat was over but his father's voice boomed again.

"And don't forget to be home by 5"

The call disconnected, leaving Heeseung  sighing in frustration. His mood soured, haunted by the things he desperately wished were only nightmare. Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes, letting out a weary breath.

Suddenly.....

BAM !!!!

The door burst open with a loud thud. A boy rushed in, and panting heavily like he'd just ran a marathon, he was in his school uniform. school boy.

The boy quickly locked the door and turned around to see in whose room he had just welcomed himself. When he saw the person on the chair He froze for a second and breath in relief. 

"Hi, heeseung sensei" he greeted casually,  approaching heeseung's table, while the older man stared at him blankly.

Niki blinked  innocently and pleaded ,"can I stay here for a bit? I really wanna live, sensei, but if my hyung catches me I am not sure about my living and I don't wanna talk to him" he  said with a dramatic fall into the chair, which was opposite to heeseung .

He excepted to be scolded for barging in but got nothing. Encouraged, he continued," Ik , u're curious what happened right? you no need to ask, I'll explain!" 

He leaned forward, resting his hand on the table, "see sensei. I am a growing boy, and I desire to eat lot of things...  but my hyung  refuses to let me to have what I need !!"

Before niki could vent further, a knock came at the door,"niki , I know you are in there. I don't care who you are talking or rather complaining to ,open the door " the voice was calm but edged with frustration .

Niki crossed his arms,"no! , you will scold me " 

It's like the person was trying to calm himself and said ,"when have I ever been harsh with you, niki ?" 

Niki thought for a moment, his lips forming in to small pout," you didn't... but you won't allow me to have icecream"

Heeseung blinked, all this drama .. for icecream ?.

The voice softened "We can talk about your icecream, when we are face to face. Open the door " 

It seems like niki was not gonna move a inch nor open it. Sighing, heeseung walked over and opened the door before niki could stop him.

Sunghoon stepped in without looking or greet the person who opened the door for him, heading straight for niki. The boy bolted behind heeseung and peek at cautiously.

Sunghoon reached out, but niki stayed glued to heeseung.

"Come here niki " 

"Nah" niki tugged at heeseung's sleeve, looking up with wide, pleasing eyes "tell him to buy me icecream, sensei" 

Sunghoon was taken back by the scene infront of him - niki clinging to a  stranger like his life depended on it. Niki was not the type to mingle easily , much less initiate physical contact. In fact, he hated touching. 

Sunghoon's gaze shifted to the man niki was holding onto so desperately. He finally took a proper look.

The man had a blank, unreadable expression, as if he completely uninvolved in the drama playing out infront of him. The first thing sunghoon noticed was the  professor's beautiful doe eye - dark, intense and sharp enough to pierce through him. For a fleeting moment, something flicked in those depth , but it was vanished before sunghoon could place it. Sun-kissed skin, a frame both slender and muscular, slightly taller than him. Sunghoon found himself unconsciously studying the man. Something tugged at his memory , thou he couldn't grasp where he had seen the man before .

Meanwhile , Heeseung stood frozen, his breath hitching at the sight of the person before him. His mind betraying him , flashing vivid image - Blood everywhere , a trembling figure drenched in crimson lying in his lap.  Before he could spiral deeper into the memory, a small tug on his sleeve pulled him back to present, "ice cream?" Niki's voice snapped heeseung out of his daze. He blinked glancing down at the boy still clutching his sleeve.

For some reason, he felt an odd pull towards the boy. He knew there must be a some solid reason why his hyung  didn't buy him icecream. Heeseung was not gonna interfere in their business when he didn't even know the whole story.

Heeseung gently freed his sleeve from niki's grip and said ,"you both sort this out. Let me out of this."

As heeseung turned back towards his seat, by seeing his back sunghoon recognised he was the man who didn't  allow him into class for being late. But there was something else familiar about him, something sunghoon couldn't quite figure out.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of niki  standing there, lips slightly pouted. Sunghoon smile at his childish expression 

Lowering himself to niki's level, he spoke gently , "you've had pneumonia twice, remember? you suffered a lot during that period and do you want to go through that again ?" Niki shook his head vigorously.

Sunghoon's expression softened "good. So, no ice cream today. You can have it but not daily"

From his desk , Heeseung quietly observed the scene. Their bond was something one could only wish for. Their interaction seems like a father and son, if only sunghoon didn't appear as a young man himself . Still, it wouldn't stop others from talking  ' the young dad who was abandoned by his school lover after giving birth to their child'

Heeseung couldn't help feel the pang of envy. His relationship with his own father was nowhere near as warm or understanding. So seeing to people close, despite not being blood related, made him ache for something he'd never had.

"Sensei , I am going , bye" 

Once niki was gone, Sunghoon strolled over to heeseung's desk , lean forward casually. His gaze was steady "you're the first person to ever stop me from entering  the class for being late " no circle just straight to the point .

Heeseung blinked, recalling the morning incident " are you some kind of night worker who sleep late and wakeup even  later?" 

Sunghoon pointed at himself, raising a brow ,"Do I look like one? " 

Heeseung tilted his head "behaving like one" 

Their gaze locked, charged with intensity and something different. Neither backed down, silently daring the other to break first.

Sunghoon crossed his arms, stepping a bit closer. "May be I'm not a fan of morning lectures"

Heeseung leaned back slightly, resting his hands in his pocket. "Or may be u're bad at time management"

________

Once sunghoon was out the room, heeseung collapsed back into his chair, his chest tightening as a sharp pain shot through him. Heeseung clutched his heart, and the ache was unbearable. With trembling fingers, he grabbed the  water, guiding it to his lips and gulping it down his throat, some spilling over his chin and soaked his shirt.

The tremor was slightly subsiding, but  the ache remained. His fingers unconsciously found the ring on his finger, the cold metal grounding him for a fleeting second. He  clutched it tightly and whispered. "Solon."

The name rolled off his lips, filled with longing and pain and something far deeper, something he couldn't let go of, no matter how much time had passed

Solon (sunghoon's twin)

Heeseung's late boyfriend / fiance 

Sunghoon's other half 

Mr park's elder son

Naughty yet strong

Died in ......