fluid: haobin

19

"on the count of 3," gyuvin tells himself but when he opens his eyes and just as he's about to flip the paper over, he closes them again. "nope, nope."

"gyu, it's literally a paper, it can't do anything to you," gunwook rolls his eyes at his cousin's behavior.

"this determines my fate, my destiny, whether i can continue living or not," gyuvin gives a dramatic monologue. "the moment i flip this over is the deciding moment for me and, well, you know who."

"you studied your butt off for this. i think that even if you didn't get the minimum score, ricky would still be proud of you because of all the work you put in."

it's true, for the past 2 weeks, it had been a nonstop routine of going to school, going to the studio after it ends, and going back and forth from the library and home to study everything. even taerae barely saw his brother's face the whole time because he could only see the younger late at night, when he would come in late.

"ok, ok, then i'm flipping this-"

"what's taking you so long?" a blonde takes a seat in front of gyuvin, his own paper in his hand. "you literally just need to turn it."

"you two are so mean to your friend who's so nervous about this," gyuvin sulks. "fine, then you guys turn for me!"

he throws it at them while covering his eyes with his hands. but after 10 seconds and with no response coming from them, his curiosity gets the best of him.

"why aren't you guys saying anything?" he asks while looking through his fingers and he sees the shocked faces of his cousin and crush. "did i fail that badly?"

"no, not that...you got a higher score than i did..." ricky breathes out loud. "oh my god..."

"you're kidding..." gyuvin grabs the paper and there, above his name, is a red "100" and a small smiley face next to his grade. "oh my god!"

"gyu, you did it!!" gunwook stands up and hugs him while giving pats on the back. "oh my god, you surpassed all expectations!!"

"i can't believe you did this well! are you a hidden math prodigy or something?" ricky jokes while elbowing his friend.

"aye, definitely not that, just cause i had a great tutor," gyuvin smiles at the chinese. "thank you so much ricky! i couldn't have done anything if you hadn't been there to help me."

"yeah well, you can prove how thankful you are if you can plan a great day tomorrow," ricky slings his arm over his shoulder.

"be prepared, this dude was asking me a thousand questions on how to pre-" gunwook is cut off by a large hand covering his lips.

"anyways, don't worry, i made sure to plan a good day!" gyuvin throws a glare at his cousin, who gives one back while struggling to get out of the hold.

.

.

.

"dude, i can't do this."

"kim gyuvin, you spent 3 hours agonizing and crossing things out from a freaking list just for today!" gunwook scolds the other through the phone screen. "i'm telling you, ricky couldn't care less about how fancy the place is or how far it is, as long as he has fun and enjoys your presence, that'll be enough!"

"hyung, ricky hyung is already happy to see you get the results you wanted," yujin talks from his side of the call. "and i think he's also feeling satisfied that he was able to help you. even if today is a mess or whatever you're thinking of, it wouldn't ruin it all."