The rest of the school day went off without a hitch. Donghyuck went back to class and got reprimanded by Serim, which he took all in stride.

She was really like a nagging mom more than a sister sometimes and it really got on Donghyuck's nerves, but he knew she was just trying to do her best to take care of him in place of his mom.

The last bell of the day rang and Donghyuck rushed to his locker to grab his backpack and a couple of books he needed for homework.

Serim was already standing there, leaning against the locker next to his and studying the tassels at the end of her scarf with a bored expression.

She looked up as Donghyuck walked up and gave him a stern look, which made Donghyuck sigh internally.

"Donghyuck, please don't start anything with Jeno. I want to leave the school without watching you leave in the back of a police car"

Donghyuck shoved everything he needed in his backpack without a word and swung it over his left shoulder before closing his locker and heading to the front doors of the school with Serim keeping pace beside him.

She glanced over at him a couple of times, waiting for a response, but Donghyuck didn't say anything until they had exited the building.

"I promise I won't. I'm not even interested in letting that bastard ruin the rest of my day" Donghyuck told her reassuringly with a small sigh.

Serim's face relaxed before she smiled at him affectionately, "Okay. Well, I'm going to go hangout with Hyojung for a little bit before my shift at work. I probably won't be home till around 9, there's leftovers in the fridge"

She gave him a small hug before she turned towards the student parking lot and headed in the direction of the blonde girl that was waiting for her.

Donghyuck met Hyojung a few times, but it was usually just when she was picking Serim up to hangout. The girl seemed to be pretty apathetic, but Donghyuck knew that Serim has been happier lately because of her so he didn't mind not seeing his sister as much as he usually does.

Donghyuck started to walk towards the sidewalk, so he could begin the walk to his apartment.

"Donghyuck!"

He turned around when he heard a familiar voice call out to him and grinned at his friend.

When Renjun finally caught up to him, Donghyuck had to hold back a laugh because Renjun was so out of breath that it looked like he just ran a marathon.

The boy was bent over with his hands on his knees and was attempting to catch his breath before he finally looked up at Donghyuck with a lopsided grin.

"I'm so glad I caught you before you left. I had to talk to my teacher about the competition and I didn't realize the time. Let's walk together?"

Donghyuck couldn't keep his laugh in and gave Renjun a side hug, "You should really start working out some more. I'm scared you'll pass out the next time you try to catch up to me. Anyway, let's start walking. I've got some stuff I want to tell you"

Renjun perked his eyebrows up at the last sentence and at the excitement Donghyuck was trying hard to contain.

Donghyuck just grinned and started walking in the direction of their neighborhood.

Even though Donghyuck is a junior and eighteen years old, he didn't have a car. They could just barely afford their tiny apartment, all thanks to the help of Renjun's grandfather and Serim working part-time after school.

So Donghyuck and Renjun's ritual was to meet up after school, walk to Donghyuck and Serim's apartment, and hangout to discuss the day's events.

It's been like this for the past 7 years, ever since Donghyuck's mom died and his dad disappeared. It helped Donghyuck cope with everything, because it gave him a sense of normalcy that had disappeared after the accident.

"So, are you going to tell me what has you so excited? You look like a puppy that just got a new toy"

Donghyuck laughed and shook his head at the comparison before he looked at Renjun.

"Have you met or seen the new school nurse?" Donghyuck asked while trying to tone down his excitement.

Renjun looked surprised at the question and frowned, "There's a new school nurse? What happened to Ms.Kang?"

Donghyuck had a hop to his step before he turned around and started walking backwards so he could face Renjun while he talked, he couldn't contain his excitement anymore and needed to tell his friend this new piece of information.

"She had a baby last month and resigned. Anyway, we have a new school nurse and he's a guy. He seems to have a weird sense of humor. Not to mention he looks like he's constantly annoyed or pissed off. He's got these intense eyes, Renjun. Oh and he actually cussed in front of me. What was principal Seo thinking when he hired that guy?"

Renjun's eyes widened as Donghyuck said all of this in one breath before Renjun gave Donghyuck a small smile.

Donghyuck drew in a breath, trying to let some oxygen in to his lungs before he let out a laugh at his own enthusiasm.

"You seem pretty excited about meeting the new school nurse. Why did you have to go to the nurse's office though?" Renjun poked Donghyuck in the side when Donghyuck finally settled for walking next to him.

"Well, you see, Jeno started hitting on Serim, that asshole. You know me, Serim is my sister and he isn't good enough for her. So I tried to punch him, but he dodged and my face decided to land on the desk. Busted my nose, I was bleeding everywhere. So yeah. You should see him though. He's pretty attractive and he looks young. I wonder how old he is"

Renjun started chuckling as Donghyuck realized he was beginning to ramble again.

"Donghyuck, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you've developed a crush on the school nurse"

At this, Donghyuck stumbled over his own feet and started to stutter,

"N-no, n-no way. That's impossible! I don't even know him! There is no way I have a crush, you're crazy. Plus, he has to be way older than us. There would be no use in having a crush on someone like that. I just think he is good looking, okay?"

Donghyuck's face felt like it was burning up with embarrassment, which is probably why Renjun started laughing at him after he finished his spiel of denial.

Donghyuck playfully punched Renjun in the arm before breaking out in a run to his apartment complex, leaving a wheezing Renjun to catch up.

~

Mark finally finished his paper works shortly after the last bell of the day rang.

He grabbed his wallet and phone before heading out the door towards the employee's parking lot. Most of the students were already gone, so the school was pretty empty as Mark made his track to the side doors.

He reached the doors and pushed them open to be met with a warm breeze. He loosened his tie before he began to walk towards his car, which had an annoyingly tall man standing next to it.

"Good afternoon, Mark. I hope the rest of your day went well?"

Mark grunted at Johnny before taking his keys out,

"Well enough. A couple of kids came in pretending not to feel well so that they could skip a class, but other than that I didn't have to deal with too many brats"

Johnny chuckled and scratched at the scruff on his chin, "Yeah, they're testing the waters to see if they can use you to their advantage. Little do they know"

"I'd like to see them try. I don't have the patience to deal with spoiled teens. Anyway, when are you going to get rid of that scraggly shit on your face? It's gross and looks itchy"

Johnny outright laughed, rubbing at his chin, "I don't know. I kind of like it.  Jaehyun likes it"

Mark grunted once again and opened the door to his car,

"Well, whatever floats your boat. I'm heading home. I'll see you tomorrow

With that, Mark slipped into his car, closed the door, and started the engine with a push of a button.

After plugging in his iPod and selecting his usual playlist, Mark left the parking lot of the school and turned onto the main street.

As he was driving towards his apartment, he noticed two boys walking on the sidewalk and talking.

"It is that brat with the bleeding nose. He sure looks giddy"

Mark watched as the brunette playfully punched the boy next to him, who had started laughing really hard, before he took off running and leaving his friend behind.

*HONK*

Mark drew his eyes away from the scene to realize the light had turned green while he wasn't paying attention. He huffed and put his foot down on the gas, "Alright, alright, I'm going, dick"

The trip to his apartment complex wasn't very long, maybe a ten minute drive if the traffic is good.

Mark pulled into his designated parking spot, turned off the car, and headed to the entrance after hitting the button on his key to lock the car.

He approached the elevators after nodding to the security guard at the front desk, hit the button for floor eight, and waited as the elevator took him up.

The apartment complex was nice, a lot of people would consider it high-end, but Mark didn't mind because the neighbors were usually quiet and respectful.

Mark stepped out of the elevator once it got to his floor and started pulling out his keys as he walked to his door. Once he reached it, he unlocked the door quickly and stepped into the dark entrance before setting his keys and wallet on the table next to the door and flipping the light switch.

Like everything else of Mark's, the apartment was nice and almost bare enough that it looked like no one lived here.

Mark didn't have many possessions and he hated clutter, so he only had the bare necessities besides a few decorative pieces here and there.

The furniture was all black and gray which contrasted nicely with the  white walls. His couch was leather, which Mark enjoyed when fall and winter came around because he liked cold things, especially cold leather.

"Meow."

"Hello, Myong. I hope you haven't made a mess of the place while I was gone"

The cat just looked at him before rubbing up against his leg and walking off to do whatever cats did when no one was watching.

"Tch, cat, getting fur on my pants. Why did I let Ten convince me to take you?"

Mark stepped into his kitchen and reached into the cupboard for the kettle and a tea cup. He filled the kettle up with water, placed it on the stove and turned on the eye.

While the water was heating up, Mark exited the kitchen and headed to the couch to grab the TV remote. He turned the TV on and immediately put on the news for background noise before he headed to the left towards his bedroom while taking off his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

The one thing he loved the most in his apartment, besides his nice leather couch, was his huge king sized bed.

The damn thing was super soft and big, it made Mark feel like he was laying on a huge cloud which made it almost impossible to get the motivation to get up in the morning.

His bed was decorated with a black duvet and large, white pillows, which a certain tabby cat was nestled in at the moment.

Mark sighed and went to his dresser, he placed his tie on top of it before slipping off his button up, folding it, and placing it in the dirty clothes basket close by.

He left his white undershirt on and slipped off his slacks so he could slip on some black sweats. Now that he was officially comfortable, he heard the kettle whistling in the kitchen and headed back to finally get his cup of tea.

Pouring some of the boiling water into the cup over a tea bag, he then reached into the cabinet for the sugar before he grabbed some milk out of the fridge.

He poured two tablespoons of sugar and just a tidbit of milk into the tea, stirring it up, before taking the teabag out and throwing it away.

Now that his tea was done, he walked over to his couch and sat down to watch the news and enjoy his cup of tea.

'Perfect way to end the day'

Mark closed his eyes and leaned his head back to rest on the couch with a sigh of contentment on his lips.

As he sat there, he kept seeing a certain pair of eyes that looked like the sea flash behind his eyelids.

They were bright, enticing, and full of life. He felt like a person could really drown in them if they stared too long.

Why does a kid have eyes like that? Mark let out a sigh of frustration before he decided to watch the news to take his mind off things that shouldn't have been on his mind at all.

Maybe it'll be awhile before he sees those eyes again and he'll have forgotten all about the boy.

Maybe.