It was one of the few nights when Han was actually studying at home rather than getting up to mischief with his friends. He never really needed the revision, he had always been a bright kid, but it was still good to actually study every now and then just in case.

Taebin was over, no surprise there. Jun had invited him round for the night since his parents were out on a date which, of course, meant that they could game to their heart's content. The living room TV was much bigger than the one in Jun's room and so, the boys took every opportunity they could to game on the 90-inch flatscreen with full HD and a 4K display.

Hannie was not happy.

Not only were his studies disrupted by their yelling and the noises of the loud TV that boomed up the stairs, but the table would rumble every now and then, shifting the pencil in his hand. Han sighed, looking at the neat writing that now looked more like a scribble, and pulled out his phone.

He pushed his earphones into the audio jack and carefully placed them into his ears. He had small ears and so, the earphones would pop out every now and then if he didn't tuck them in tightly. Once he was sure they were snugly fitted into his ears and were not going to fall out anytime soon, he pressed play.

He continued to work on his studies, scribbling down notes as he read through the textbook. Tapping his pencil along to the beat of the song, the melody flowing into his ears. He began to hum along, stopping to chew on the end of his pencil every now and then. His perfectly white teeth applying light pressure to the pencil between his contrasting scarlet lips.

After another half an hour he gave up, the noise from below was getting worse so he got up from his desk, leaving everything behind except for his phone, and flopped down onto his bed.

He turned the volume up, a poor attempt to block out the disturbance coming from the living room.

It could be worse, he knew. They could have been in the room right next door, bouncing up and down on the bed like the overgrown children they were as they cheered for their victory.

Hannie closed his eyes and imagined himself lying on a beach, somewhere isolated, somewhere away from Taebin.

It was quiet, the gentle breeze blowing through his hair. He opened his eyes, looking up at the night sky as the stars twinkled across the dark, velvety blanket in the air.

Then, it all disappeared.

"Hannie."

With a groan, he pulled his earphones out and sat up, coming face to face with Taebin.

He didn't say a word, no, he simply raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to ask the elder what he wanted.

"Jun sent me for a blanket." The elder smiled, running his hand through his dark brown locks.

The younger sighed, leaning off the edge of his bed to search underneath it, "Here."

Taebin smiled, his gratitude evident on his stupid face. Stupid face. Stupid hair. Stupid everything. Hannie really did hate everything about him. The way he talked so casually as if the two were friends, the way his hair was dyed that horrible dark shade of brown. What was the point of dying it if it was still going to be so close to his natural black? Stupid.

Just his presence alone was frustrating. Although, in all honesty, he'd never really done anything warranting such hostility from the younger boy, and Hannie knew it too. Maybe he was overreacting but after years of putting up with Taebin, he no longer cared.

As the elder left the room Hannie found himself getting up, deciding that now was the time to go downstairs in search of a snack. His stomach growled as he passed his brother's room, the boys inside finally quieting down as the day grew dark.

He searched the cupboards but nothing in particular, caught his eye. He wanted a snack, but he didn't know what. Hannie was always indecisive. He could make a decision if he had to, but he always struggled with smaller things like this.

In the end, he gave up, deciding that he'd eat something later. Maybe he'd just wait for breakfast in the morning.

He trudged back up the stairs, feeling more annoyed than tired, and eventually found himself flopping back down into bed.

The next morning went like this, the boys woke up and Taebin stayed for breakfast. Then, Hannie left for school. He wasn't looking forward to it. He left at half seven and knew that he wouldn't arrive home until at least half ten.

The days were long, and he didn't get much time to hang out with his friends during the week, but he didn't mind it, he was used to it. Eat, study, sleep. That was the routine. It was a nice routine, a simple routine. Because Hannie was a bright kid, he didn't struggle much with the work, unlike the other kids. There were only a few that could keep up with it, most of the kids in his class went straight to study sessions or lessons with a tutor after school despite not even finishing until ten.

School was tough and getting into university really was the survival of the fittest. Thankfully for Hannie, he was one of the top students in his class, which meant no extra classes or tutors for him. His parents trusted that he would be like his brother and take his education seriously and, for the most part, he did.

"Ji."

Han looked up from his work and raised his eyebrows, not that you could see it through his fluffy ebony locks.

"What's the answer?" Woojin asked, leaning over slightly as the teacher was busy elsewhere.

The younger shook his head, "You really need to study more."

"You two, outside now," the teacher called from the front of the class, pointing to the door.

They had been caught.

"You've done it now," Han sighed, placing his pencil neatly on the desk.

They quietly made their way out of the classroom and into the hallway, both expecting the worst for talking when they were told not to.

"What do you not understand about being silent when you are taking a test?" The teacher questioned, anger evident his face as well as his tone.

Han looked at the ground, hoping to just get their punishment over with but Woojin was much more accustomed to these types of things and tried his luck, "I don't know what you're talking about. Us? Talking? We were just doing the test."

"Don't take me for an idiot and take your punishment like a man."

Woojin shut his mouth and joined Han in looking at the ground, mumbling an apology to his teacher.

With a sigh, the teacher pinched the bridge of his nose, "Ji-Han, twenty push-ups. Woojin, forty."

"Come on, you always go easy on him," Woojin whined.

"Because he doesn't continuously get into trouble. Do your punishment and then you can go back inside, are we clear."

Both boys bowed with a quiet, "Yes, Teacher," before getting on the ground and starting their punishment.

Han was done before Woojin but the elder wasn't far behind. Hannie was never particularly athletic so twenty push-ups took him longer than it would most, which is why Woojin had managed to do thirty-five in the time it took Han to do all twenty of his.

They went back into class and continued their test, not risking speaking to each other because neither of the pair wanted to do any more push-ups or get a worse punishment. Han had avoided the worst punishments but Woojin had experienced everything. Push-ups, running around the track, strikes, you name it.

The teachers knew Han's friends weren't the best of influences, but they had seen his resilience against indulging in their bad behaviour at school. Outside of school, however, was another matter.

The day was tiring enough as it was without having to do so many push-ups and by the end of the day, Han was exhausted. So exhausted in fact, that he called Jun begging him to pick him up so that he wouldn't have to walk home.

To his dismay, it wasn't Jun who came to pick him up. No, Jun was busy with something and, instead, asked Taebin to pick little Hannie up for him.

Han sighed, climbing into the car and pulling the door shut with a thud.

"Push-ups?" Taebin questioned, his attention on the road as he drove away from the school.

Han huffed, "How'd you know?"

"I know what the teachers are like, plus you're rubbing your scrawny little arms as if they ache," The elder stated, not deliberately trying to offend Hannie with his words.

The younger quickly stopped rubbing his sore arms and scowled, "I'm not scrawny."

Taebin simply hummed. Hannie wasn't scrawny, no, but he didn't sport any muscles and was on the skinny side. He wasn't short but neither was he tall, just average with both Taebin and Jun a full head taller than him.

Taebin knew Hannie better than he thought and he knew that he couldn't do more than ten push-ups without his arms aching. That was how he knew that they must have made him do quite a few more. He also knew that the teachers went easy on Hannie, if it was anyone else, they would have had a punishment much worse.

Taebin had gone through his fair share of such punishments. He was always getting into trouble at school, nothing major though. Mostly little things, but because of his snarky personality the teachers came down quite hard on him.

"Why couldn't Jun come?" Hannie asked, breaking through the uncomfortable silence that had filled the air around them.

"He has an essay due tomorrow, he needed to finish it off," Taebin answered, slowing the car to a stop as they came to a red light.

Silence again but it didn't last for long.

"What did you do? To have to do push-ups?"

Han rolled his eyes, not particularly wanting to converse with the elder and so, he ignored him and rested his head against the side of the car as he closed his eyes.

They drove for a little longer before the car stopped once again.

We can't be home already. Hannie thought to himself, opening his eyes again before turning his head towards Taebin, who was sitting with his gaze fixed directly on Hannie.

"What?" The younger snapped, wondering why Taebin had pulled over and stopped the car.

"You know, I'm really trying here. The least you could do is have a conversation with me every once in a while." Taebin had had enough of Hannie's attitude. He was trying to get along with the boy but no matter how hard he tried, Hannie still hated him, he just didn't understand why.

Hannie tipped his head back against the seat, looking up at the roof of the car before looking back at Taebin with an expression of boredom, "Why do you care? Just drive me home."

Then, Hannie rested his head back against the seat again and continued to ignore the elder. Taebin sighed, deciding it was too late to argue with Hannie and put his keys back into the car. He'd leave the boy there if he could, but it was late, and he didn't want to risk anything happening to him if he made him walk the rest of the way by himself.

They arrived home soon after that. Taebin had waved goodbye to the ungrateful younger, who yet again ignored him as he headed inside.

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