Author's note: Seung-ho and Hyo-bin are both 19 and legal adults in this chapter.

The classroom was empty during the lunch hour. Everybody who had a place to be at lunch was there, while the people without a place were on the roof, behind the library, or in the corridor by the vending machines. Hyo-bin and Seung-ho had a place. They actually had several places by now. This time they were on the third floor of the old building. It was the empty classroom they used for makeup tests, the one nobody opened on a normal day.

The blinds were half down, keeping the room dark.

Hyo-bin leaned his back to the desk in the front row with his hands flat on the wood behind him. As Seung-ho stood in front of him, he kept one hand on the side of Hyo-bin's neck, resting his other hand in the loop of his school tie. They had been kissing long enough for Hyo-bin to lose count, the way he stopped counting laps when he planned to swim more of them than he wanted to know about.

It wasn't the first time. It was the fourth or the fifth. He had lost track somewhere between the roof on Tuesday and the back of the library on the rainy day. Each time had been longer than the last.

Seung-ho rubbed the back of Hyo-bin's ear with his fingers. "Are you coming to my house after practice? My mom won't be home. You can stay the night, then we'll come to school together in the morning."

Hyo-bin blushed. "What are we gonna do?" he asked.

Seung-ho chuckled. "We're gonna kiss until morning. You can tell your mom we're studying biology all night."

"Shameless asshole..."

Seung-ho dropped his hand. "What are you gonna tell your mom?"

"That we're studying biology all night," Hyo-bin said. "And just so you know, we actually do need to study biology. I don't even have the energy for anything else anyway. Coach was completely out of his mind today. I can't feel my legs."

"Same," Seung-ho said. "My shoulders are killing me. You have to massage my back before we study."

"Yeah? Who's gonna do it for me?"

Seung-ho held Hyo-bin's chin and looked into his eyes, suddenly serious. "I will, of course. What kind of question is that?" he said. "Who else could touch your back?"

"Pfft. A lot of people in the sports industry?"

Seung-ho made a face. "We're gonna study tonight. Daehan Sports Academy," he said. "You promised me, Hyo-bin."

"Yeah," Hyo-bin said, because that was their plan.

Hyo-bin was going to get in on a swimming scholarship while Seung-ho paid his way. They would still go to the same school, sharing the same pool. Since Seung-ho planned to focus more on swimming in college, they were both going to make the national team. That way they could be together as far as it went.

Seung-ho had promised never to leave him alone. But it was the day he said, "I wanna watch you swim for the rest of my life. I'm your biggest fan," that Hyo-bin finally stopped pretending there was any uncertainty between them. He had already fallen completely in love with Seung-ho, and hearing him place himself so naturally in Hyo-bin's future made it impossible to hold back any longer. Hyo-bin kissed him first, not because he needed to find out how Seung-ho felt, but because he already knew.

Seung-ho had given him another promise too. He would stop losing on purpose and actually race Hyo-bin. After that, he had beaten him twice. Normally, Hyo-bin wanted to drown anyone who beat him in the water. This time, he had just been proud of Seung-ho.

—

They took the car with the driver to Seung-ho's house that evening. After they studied for a bit, they ate dinner before watching TV.

Seung-ho held Hyo-bin against his chest, playing with his hair. Hyo-bin lifted his head after a while to look at him.

"What?" Seung-ho said quietly.

"Nothing," Hyo-bin said. His ears turned red before he looked back at the TV.

"What? Tell me," Seung-ho said.

"I like you," Hyo-bin whispered. He kept his eyes on the TV.

Seung-ho stopped and looked at him. His face was very calm, but he was so shocked he forgot how long he had waited to hear that. He pushed Hyo-bin's hair out of his face. "Say it again," Seung-ho said.

"No, you heard it," Hyo-bin said.

"I wanna hear it again. Please, Hyo-bin."

"Drop it, Seung-ho."

"You can't just drop that and keep watching a stupid show."

"I just said it," Hyo-bin said. He kept his eyes on the screen.

Seung-ho held the back of Hyo-bin's neck. "Then look at me. If you like me, you shouldn't be looking at anything else."

"I'm trying to watch this," Hyo-bin said.

"I don't care," Seung-ho said. "I waited a long time. I want all of your attention."

"How long could you have waited?" Hyo-bin chuckled.

Seung-ho leaned down and kissed the back of Hyo-bin's neck. "I just waited," he said as he closed his eyes.

"Stop, I wanna watch this, Seung-ho," Hyo-bin chuckled again.

"Don't look at anything else but me, Choi Hyo-bin," Seung-ho said. He wrapped his arms around Hyo-bin's neck without opening his eyes. "Why aren't you paying attention to me?"

"You're really sick, Seung-ho," Hyo-bin said. "You never sit still."

"Why do you talk to that girl in the next class so much, Hyo-bin-ah?" Seung-ho said without moving his head.

"What? So what if I talk to a girl?" Hyo-bin said as he looked at him.

"I don't like it when you laugh with her."

"Ya, you don't like it when I laugh with anyone, but that girl is actually funny."

"Ya, pay attention to me."

"I'm talking to you right now, Seung-ho."

When Seung-ho turned the TV off with the remote, Hyo-bin looked at him. "Why did you turn it off, jerk? I was watching."

"Don't talk to her again," Seung-ho said.

"Do you have a death wish? Who made you the boss of me?"

"I'm your boyfriend. Seriously, what kind of question is that?" Seung-ho said.

"What? We just kiss. We aren't dating."

"If we kiss, we're dating. Plus, we could do more," Seung-ho said. He touched Hyo-bin's silky hair and licked his lips while he looked into his eyes. "You act all tough but you're super cute, Hyo-bin. I don't want you hanging out with anyone else."

"Pfft. Who would want a boyfriend like you..."

Seung-ho kissed him to shut him up. Their hearts were beating so loud in the quiet room.

Maybe it was that quiet that made them notice someone else breathing at the same time. They both quickly looked toward the living room door. 

Kim Ji-hye had been watching them for who knows how long.