[EN] HIM (HyunChan)

II.

"Hi, Chris," Hyunjin greeted him, visibly stifling a yawn.

"Good morning," the man smiled at him. "How are you?"

"It's fine, thanks. Listen, Seungmin said you're good at English."

"Pretty much, why?" raised one eyebrow at Christopher.

"I need help," Hyunjin gave him a sad puppy look. "I've been catching up until now, but we've started discussing some new things and I'm completely lost. Could you help me, please?"

"Sure. How are you this weekend?"

"I should have time," the taller man smiled.

"Sounds good. We'll talk more later, it's only Wednesday."

The younger one nodded with a grateful smile.

"Hi! Sorry I'm late, I missed the bus," Seungmin apologized as he ran up to the two. "Did I miss something?"

"Nothing happened, Hyunjin just asked me to help him with his English."

The boy with the braces nodded.

"Where is Minho anyway?" Hyunjin asked.

"Looks like his class is starting an hour later today," Christopher mused.

"Treason," the tallest covered his mouth and yawned. "I'd appreciate that extra hour of sleep today."

"I think we all would," Seungmin remarked with a broad smile.

Hyunjin laughed softly and nodded. "That's right. Can we go in slowly? I'm getting cold."

***

"Do you want to go out this weekend?" suggested Minho when they were all gathered in the dining room.

"I'm tutoring Hyunjin," Christopher said as he finished chewing his bite.

"Oh, that sure won't last the whole evening," Seungmin grinned broadly.

"Dude," the oldest laughed, trying his best to hide the fact that he was blushing.

"I hope you're not jealous," Hyunjin chuckled and put a piece of vegetable in his mouth.

Seungmin's face was horrified, though he was visibly holding back his laughter, as were Minho and Christopher. "Who are you and what did you do with Hyunjin?"

"If I told you that, I'd have to kill you," the tallest one said cryptically, his face unmoving. The others couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

"But seriously, shall we go somewhere, even for an hour? We haven't been anywhere since exams," Minho pleaded when everyone had stopped laughing.

"We can," Seungmin agreed. The others eventually nodded as well.

***

It wasn't long before it was Saturday. Christopher was busily running around the apartment he had made in his parents' basement, cleaning everything he could. He knew that Hyunjin wasn't the hygiene control, but he really didn't need to have a mess reminiscent of the aftermath of the atomic bomb explosion here.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he finished washing the last plate, flopped down on the sofa and reached for his phone to check the time. It would be 2:00 PM in a few minutes, Hyunjin should be here soon. He put his phone back down and closed his eyes, then covered them with his hands.

He remained in that position until he heard the doorbell. He climbed the few steps to the front door and opened it.

"Hi," he smiled at the newcomer and moved out of the way to allow him to enter.