the other version

misunderstood and kept in

ᴛᴡ ɪɴ ᴏᴘᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ'ꜱ ɴᴏᴛᴇ

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"he's just like refusing to do any work," sapnap complains as he pulls his shoes on, leaning against the wall for balance as he works on the laces. "i even went to go find him and ask him to help but he just refused."

sapnap's dad looks too busy making coffee to listen to him.

"well are you still going to complete the project?" his mother asks from where she's sitting at the kitchen island, eating a fruit salad that looks good enough to make sapnap hungry even though he's already had cereal.

"yeah, of course," he confirms. "it's just annoying because i'm going to have to do so much more work."

"just wait till you have a full-time job," sapnap's dad scoffs quietly, stirring milk into his coffee. he turns around to face sapnap, taking a sip of his drink before saying, "you're always going to have to work with people you don't like, son, that's just life. it's not an excuse to slack off, though."

"i'm not going to, don't worry," sapnap assures.

"it is frustrating that he won't help," sapnap's mum begins to sympathise before ruining it when she continues, "but it's just a little bit of extra work, and if that's necessary for you to do well then you shouldn't complain, you just have to get on with it."

"i will do it," he says, even though he's pretty sure he's already made that clear. "i'm just trying to tell you that it's annoying."

"well what do you expect us to do about it?" his dad says, moving to pull out the chair beside his wife and sit down. "being lazy and complaining won't help, sapnap, either talk to the boy or your teacher or just get on with it."

sapnap nods.

his parents aren't trying to be dicks, he knows that, they just aren't understanding what he's trying to say. he decides the conversation isn't worth it as he picks up his bag.

"well, i should probably head off," he smiles. then, because he thinks it will make them happy, he adds, "hopefully i'll get to school early enough to get some work done."

it makes his mom smile. "that sounds like a good idea, sweetheart, have a nice day."

"you too," he chirps, pulling open the front door. "love you both."

he hears loving responses from both of his parents before stepping out of the house and closing the door behind him. the air is thick when he steps out into it and he already finds himself second guessing if he remembered to put on aftershave. though, after a sniff of his shirt, he can confirm that he did.

he beelines to his car, unapologetically dropping his stuff onto the passenger's side even though he knows sylvee would have to move it all again when she gets in the car.

he left the house earlier than usual, and he doesn't want his best friend to feel rushed if he gets to her house too early, so he decides to just pass some time on his phone as he sat in the car, scrolling mindlessly through tiktok videos that seem interesting now but he wouldn't remember come lunchtime.