After several days without speaking, Minho and Jisung drifted apart so much that they stopped meeting to study. The pressure of the final exams caused Jisung to get sick from stress, and he assumed he had a poor performance, which left him worried about losing his scholarship and disappointing his mother. In addition, despite the tension between them, he didn't want to distance himself from Minho.

The sky was getting darker and darker, and the time for the students to go home or to the residence had arrived. Jisung tried to walk normally but was so dizzy that he couldn't. Minho, who was passing by, noticed what was happening and approached his boyfriend to help him.

"Sunggie, are you okay?" The newly named looked at him and grabbed one of his arms to lean on while vomiting on his shirt.

The older one was surprised and somewhat disgusted, but he didn't move away because he knew Jisung wasn't feeling well. After Jisung finished vomiting, Minho hugged him despite being dirty and noticed the other one started crying. He was very depressed and sick.

"Love..." Minho gently stroked his hair and made him look at him. "Let's go to your room. I'll take care of you, okay?"

Jisung nodded, and as Minho said, they went to the indicated place. Once there, he helped him lie down on the bed, brought him a glass of water and covered him with the soft blankets, seeing how Jisung closed his eyes. Then, he took off his dirty shirt and put on one shirt of his boyfriend before approaching him.

"Are you mad at me?" Jisung asked. He felt very uncomfortable.

"No, honey, I'm not." He smiled. "I'm sorry I was so cruel last time. I was like that because I was frustrated, but I shouldn't have."

The younger one felt relieved to hear that and sighed before opening his eyes. Although he still felt sick and tired, he began to feel more comfortable knowing he was not angry with him. Minho sat on the edge of the bed and gently stroked his hair and cheek.

"I think the results of the exams were awful," Jisung said. He took one of the other's hands and started playing with it, intertwining his fingers and stopping doing it. "I can't do anything right, Min, I'm sorry..."

The newly named hugged him and stroked his back. He knew how bad his boyfriend could feel about these things. He knew Jisung was frustrated by not understanding what he studied, and he could cry no matter who looked at him.

"The tests are just about remembering a thousand useless things, so don't stress too much, okay, love?" He tried to wipe away his tears with his thumbs and then sighed. He needed to change the subject quickly so he wouldn't feel worse about his grades. "My parents won't let me see you or talk to you. They're too angry. If they find out I'm not going home soon, then they'll punish me."

"Do they know about me?"

"Yes, although they actually only know you by name. The gossip Seungmin told them recently that I'm dating you, and they got furious. They say I will be distracted from my studies and shouldn't date someone with a scholarship... They don't understand that you're the best thing that ever happened to me." He sighed, feeling the frustration of the situation. "But don't worry too much about that." He looked at the time on his phone and snorted. "I have to go, pretty."

Jisung grimaced, and Minho looked at him sadly. He sighed and explained that although he didn't want to, he had to leave. Then, he asked if he already had a new roommate, to which the younger one answered negatively.

"The day you left, I was about to ask you to stay here," he said as he took out the key and handed it to him. "But I don't know if you want to anymore. In the end, it's your decision."

Minho smiled widely and kissed him before nodding his head. He promised he would talk to his parents so that he could stay in the residence, even if they didn't want to. It made Jisung feel extremely happy.

(...)

The weeks had passed, and Jisung had gotten good grades on the final exams, while Minho had done his best to distance himself from his parents' comparisons. On graduation day, his parents attended the ceremony, which surprised him since they had never been to his school events. For a moment, he thought that his relationship with them might improve.

When he got off the stage with the diploma, his father approached and gave him a friendly pat.

"You'll finally follow my path, son. When you finish studying Business, I'll hire you in my agency, and you'll become a successful businessman like me."

He felt an overwhelming repulsion when he heard that.

Business? That wasn't his true passion. He didn't even know what he wanted to do. Even so, he had no intentions of taking the university entrance exam yet. He would do it next year, and he let his father know.

Although he had seen his face of disappointment many times, it had never hurt him as much as that time.

"Can't you be a little more like your cousin? He'll study the same thing as your uncle after graduating."

"Dad, why do you have to ruin my day like that?" After that, he ran away from there. Jisung had followed and comforted him so much that he eventually stopped caring what his father thought of him. He was never going to change.

After a time, the two boys were on vacation. In a few months, Jisung would be in his last year of school, and Minho would be in a school program for students who wanted to take the university entrance exam next year. Since they wouldn't have to study for a while, they wished to relax and enjoy themselves so they could have their first date. The two were quite excited.

Minho waited for his boyfriend outside the residence but didn't understand why he took so long. The reality was that Jisung didn't feel very good. He looked at himself in the mirror and believed he didn't look very pretty. He had combed his hair and changed his clothes multiple times, but Jisung wasn't happy with his appearance.

Minho entered the residence after twenty minutes of waiting and opened the door with the key to the room. He smiled when he saw Jisung there but was worried when Jisung started crying.

"Love, what's wrong?" Minho approached him, hugged him and stroked his back so that he could calm his crying.

"I look so bad, Min..." He cried louder, his face in the other's chest. "I hate my cheeks. Look at them. They're fat and ugly."

Minho sighed and let him go, stroking his cheeks affectionately. To him, they were quite beautiful. After giving him a couple of kisses, he settled down and spoke.

"Have you heard the legend of the chubby cheeks?" The other shook his head, and the older one smiled. Obviously, he hadn't heard it since Minho had just made it up. "Well, I'll tell you."

He made them lie down together, hugged Jisung and began to tell him the legend he had just created. It consisted of a long time ago, somewhere in Korea, there was a great kingdom with a king, queen, princes and princesses, but there was a big problem. All the princes fought to know who was the most beautiful of all.

Tired of the ongoing arguments, the king called a wizard to solve everything. He asked the prince questions and received all kinds of answers. Some were quite ugly, and others were precious. When he finished talking to each one, they all went to sleep. The next day, four of them woke up with different cheeks. The wizard explained to them that those who had them like that were the most beautiful princes, both inside and out.

"So, the legend says that those with cheeks like you are the most beautiful. And in them, keep beautiful little things others don't have."

Jisung didn't fully understand that story, but he liked it very much. With his mouth open in shock, he got up and looked at himself in the mirror again, touching his cheeks and smiling.

"I'm pretty, Min! I'm pretty inside and out!"

"Of course you are, Hannie." He approached him and kissed his cheeks. "I'm sure you're one of those princes. Oh, I'm so in love with you!"

The younger one laughed shyly and finally finished getting ready.

After Jisung felt better, the two boys left the residence together and walked through the streets. They did it for a few minutes until they reached a small ice cream shop, Minho's favourite, on a street near the school. He had wanted to take him there during all his realities, so he was happy to have done it finally. Jisung looked at everything curiously, noticing that the place was decorated with pastel tones and had small tables and chairs outside for the customers.

They sat at a table outside and quickly agreed on what flavour of ice cream to order. Jisung opted for a vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips, while Minho chose one flavour he hadn't tasted: pistachio. While they waited for their order, they talked about their lives, and when their ice creams arrived, the younger one couldn't help smiling. It was the first time he had one in such a cute and cozy place. Minho noticed Jisung's happiness and smiled because they could have a good time together.

After finishing eating, they decided to walk through a nearby park. The sun was setting, and the sky had beautiful shades of orange and pink. They walked together along a gravel path, enjoying the cool breeze. A quiet and peaceful atmosphere surrounded them and allowed them to feel comfortable and relaxed with each other.

When they reached a lonely bench in a secluded area of the park, Minho took Jisung's hand and squeezed it gently. Jisung blushed at feeling his boyfriend's hand in his, but he also felt a warm sensation. The two stayed seated on the bench, enjoying the view and company of the other. It was a simple but beautiful date, and Jisung knew he would never forget it.

(...)

Every time, their days became happier. Minho had started the school program with his friends, and Jisung had started his last course. But, of course, this happiness couldn't last too long.

Seungmin hated seeing his cousin happy. He always looked for a way to take away that happiness and feel superior to him so his parents would mistreat him for being useless. Since Minho had started staying in the residence, he didn't receive more comparisons, which annoyed Seungmin. He needed to see him suffer. Yes, and Han Jisung was the perfect person to destroy him.

"Hey, I have to tell you something," Seungmin said as he grabbed Jisung's arm and dragged him out of the classroom. Jisung wanted to wait for Minho to let him know since he hadn't returned from the school store yet. "It will be something quick, I promise."

Seungmin took him to an empty place, and Han scratched his neck, confused and nervous. The other scared him. Seungmin took out his cell phone and showed him a picture of Minho and another boy kissing. Jisung frowned and stared at it, trying to process what he saw. He quickly noticed that it was an edition.

"What is this?" he asked, trying to keep calm.

"What do you think?" Seugmin said with a malicious smile. "It seems that your boyfriend is not so faithful after all."

Jisung felt furious when he heard those words.

"Stop bothering," he said as he tried to leave, but Seungmin didn't allow him.

It didn't take long until Jisung gave him the first punch, followed by several more. Seungmin didn't stand still. He quickly responded by pushing the other and making him fall to the ground. Then, he began to kick him and shout insults at him.

Jisung writhed in pain as he continued to receive blows. He tried to protect himself, but his movements were clumsy, and he couldn't do much. His sight became somewhat blurry, and he took out his phone as best he could to send a message of help to his boyfriend, but Seungmin took it from him and threw it to the ground, breaking the screen.

"You're not going to ruin my plans. Lee Minho must not be happy." He made Jisung get up and pushed him against the wall, making him complain.

Jisung noticed that Seungmin had taken out a large knife. He didn't know where or when he did it, but he barely reacted.

Kim Seungmin had stabbed him in the abdomen, making him scream.

He wanted to do it again, but Jisung pushed him and covered his wound with his hands. The pain was unbearable, and he couldn't move much. The other stood in front of him, watching him suffer with an evil smile on his face. He knew he had done something terrible, but he didn't care at all.

"You're going to pay very dearly," Jisung stammered, feeling that he would faint at any moment.

He took his cell phone quite broken and sent a message of help to his boyfriend, writing with only one hand.

"Help me, Minho, please."

He was able to send it before being stabbed again and again until he finally fell unconscious.