Author's Note:

So I'm not from the States, I don't know much about how school/classes work there.

So I'll just make this easier for myself rather than being pressured/push myself to write about things I have no experience of. Or just some slight differences.

I'll be describing the characters' academics and school based on how my school works. There'll be strands, lol.

Jeno and Renjun, and the rest of the dreamies are in 12th grade, but they're in different strands.

And different buildings...

While Ryo is in 10th grade.

Also, this setting is not in Korea... So that explains why they just call each other by names and not with honorifics, and I'm using english names for some random characters or side-characters who have English names.

Again, this is just a fanfic- y'all don't attack me pls 🫠

That's just about it, I don't really wanna stress myself too much again like before ^^

✮

Renjun and Ryo's parents arrived back home on a Sunday night, at a very late hour. The eldest son was the one who greeted them in, feeling some sense of responsibility on many occasions.

"Renjun, dear, you didn't have to wait for us, look at the time!" His mother says, kissing his cheek.

His father hums in agreement, "you have school tomorrow, you should be sleeping at this late hour."

"It's fine, I couldn't sleep anyway without making sure you guys came home safely." Renjun waves their worries off.

His mother tsks at him, "is Ryo asleep?"

"Fast asleep." Renjun replies, chuckling quietly.

"What about that Jeno kid? Is he resting well?" Renjun nods at her, reassuring both his parents that their guest is doing fine all thanks to him.

"Well then, you should rest up too. We'll meet Jeno in the morning, goodnight kiddo." His father ruffles his hair with a soft yet tired smile.

Renjun bids them goodnight, kissing their cheeks before quietly rushing back to his bedroom, careful not to wake Ryo and Jeno up.

✮

The next morning, the family of four and Jeno all gathered at the dining table to eat breakfast. "Are the waffles okay, Jeno?" Mrs. Huang asks.

"They're delicious, Mrs. Huang, thank you for the breakfast." Jeno replies to her, sipping his glass of water.

"I agree!" Ryo chirps, mouth full and chocolate syrup smeared on his chin. "Thanks, mom!"

Renjun groans, "can you not eat so... Messily?" He clicks his tongue, bothered at the sight of his younger brother who was once very tidy and ready for school, up until he devoured his plate of waffles this morning.

Ryo only glares at him as their mom chuckles, handing him a tissue or two to clean his face.

Once they finished eating their breakfast, and Ryo all cleaned up with the help of Jeno, Mr. Huang walks over to them by the door. "Here's your allowance, kids. Remember to budget, be responsible, okay?" He says, handing them their allowance.

When it came to Jeno, however, the blonde boy hesitated to receive the money. "What's wrong, Jeno?" Mr. Huang asks, a little worried and confused at the mentioned boy.

Jeno gulps, "that's a lot of money, Mr. Huang," he mumbles.

"Nonsense, it's your allowance for today. Or maybe even tomorrow as well if you know how to handle your money well enough."

"Are you sure, Mr. Huang? You don't have to hand me this, I can use my pocket money-"

Mr. Huang cuts him off, "Jeno, I am definitely sure. Please, I insist."

Jeno slowly takes the money in front of him and bows, "thank you so much, Mr. Huang, I'll pay you soon!" And before the businessman could even reply to that, Jeno runs off to catch up with Renjun and Ryo, who were patiently waiting for him.

Renjun drapes an arm around his shoulders, "you good with walking to school, right?"

Jeno snorts in response, "of course. It could help me save my allowance." Renjun raises a brow at that before brushing it off, scolding Ryo to walk beside them instead of running ahead of them.

✮

"Well, I'll see you around, Jeno." Renjun says, "oh, we can meet up at lunch if you're not busy."

"I'll think about it," Jeno smiles at him.

"Suit yourself," Renjun lightly shrugs his shoulders. "You're more than welcome to join us."

Jeno only hums before waving him goodbye, disappearing into the busy open hallway.

"And you," Renjun then turns to focus on his younger brother. "Stay out of trouble, and focus on your lessons, alright?"

Ryo nods obediently, they then share a quick hug until Ryo's friends soon call him to walk to their classroom together.

✮

Renjun enters his classroom, only to be greeted by one of his classmates who has a teasing smile plastered on his face.

God, does Renjun want to smack him so badly.

"Did you have waffles for breakfast?"

"How did y-" he was interrupted mid sentence, a thumb wiping his cheek.

"Missed a spot." His classmate smirks, licking his thumb, tasting the caramel syrup Renjun had on his waffles this morning.

Okay, now how did he nor Jeno not notice that earlier? Yet he had the guts to complain about his little brother being all messy-

It's too early in the morning for him to commit some type of violence against their own class officer- then again, he also is part of their classroom officers.

He huffs and pushes the arm off his shoulders, freeing himself from its weight. "Shut up, Hyuck."

"Good morning to you too, Injunnie." Donghyuck snickers.

Renjun walks over to his usual seat, placing his backpack down, another boy approaches them. His jet black hair is a bit messed up despite applying a little bit of hair gel, his one hand resting in his pocket while the other holding a bottle of water.

"Where have you been?" Renjun asks, watching his other classmate taking a seat on the armchair in the other row.

"Out in the field, the flag ceremony is about to start in a few minutes." The boy replies.

Donghyuck shrugs his shoulders and leans back against the back of the chair in front of Renjun. "We still have time."

"Why did you come back here in the classroom if it's about to start?" Renjun raises a brow at him.

"Some HUMSS students were occupying the field, playing basketball." The boy replies, opening his bottle of water and taking a big gulp from it.

"It's 6:50 in the morning, they'll be sweating buckets by the first period!" Renjun exclaims, utterly in disbelief.

"It's not my problem."

Donghyuck snorts at that, "you're just annoyed they won't let you play with them."

"So not true." The boy huffs, ruffling his hair, making it more messy.

"Right, well- you do the same thing."

"Again, so not true."

Renjun rolls his eyes at them. "Whatever guys, let's just head out to the field and form our lines." Standing up, he stretches a bit before instructing his other classmates, earning a few groans in annoyance.

"Y'all can go, I'll just chill here." Their friend was about to lay back and relax, but before he could do so, Donghyuck pulled him up by his arm. "Ow!"

"Don't be a doofus, you'll get caught by the guards and teachers doing rounds making sure we're all attending the flag ceremony." This time, it was him who received an annoyed groan.

"Please Jaemin, it's not like our assigned line is at the very front, which is a few steps away from our building."

Jaemin huffs in reply, "you know that's not the problem. I literally take a stroll around campus anytime."

"You're so dramatic, just get up already! The ABM students won't bother you this morning. They're too busy worrying about their presentations or whatever."

Jaemin reluctantly stands up, hands in his pockets as he and Donghyuck walk out of their classroom, heading downstairs to meet up with the others.