prev session ★ SESSION THREE ★ next session
Your private Twitter account has never been this dramatic.
Twelve people who know every embarrassing detail about your life.
Twelve people who would absolutely expose you if you tried to lie.
You open the app, your hands trembling with leftover nerves, and snap a quick picture of yourself: backpack, jacket, hair slightly messy, eyes wide like you’ve seen something terrifying. Which, honestly, you have.
You post before you can talk yourself out of it.
i have to go somewhere today
pray for me i’m going to die fr
You don’t have to wait long.
Jiwoo explodes into your notifications.
OH RIGHT THE BIGHIT MISSION??? RIGHT?????
Your lips twitch, even though your stomach is still knotted.
You reply vaguely, and she freaks out even more.
She’s so loud, even behind a screen.
But you ignore her for now and sling your backpack onto your shoulder.
Today, you’re not just a student.
Well, you don’t even know what you are.
A crisis-management team?
A sacrificial lamb for an idol who doesn’t know what a fraction is?
The city feels louder than usual as you walk, like it knows you’re doing something insane. And when you finally reach the front of HYBE Labels, your feet stop automatically. The building towers over you glass and angles and money so expensive looking that your reflection feels out of place.
You stare up at it, swallowing.
Jiwoo texts you again demanding selfies with the building but all you can manage is a shaky picture of the pavement. She complains, obviously, because Jiwoo always complains. You smile nervously at your phone and put it away.
The lobby is too clean, too quiet, too polished. Everything smells faintly like disinfectant and rich people. The security guard looks professional enough to arrest clouds.
“Y/N?” he asks politely, scanning a tablet. “We were told to expect you. This way, please.”
You follow him into an elevator that hums softly as it climbs. You try not to pass out.
By the time you reach the practice room floor, your hands have gone cold. There’s a hallway lined with doors some closed, some cracked open, music leaking through. You walk until you find the room number you were told.
The door is slightly ajar.
You knock before your courage evaporates.
The music cuts off immediately.
A moment later, a head pokes out.
Messy hair. Flushed cheeks. Loose hoodie.
And eyes that widen when they land on you surprise, and something that looks a lot like relief.
He looks nothing like on posters or fancams (not that you’ve watched many). In person he looks…softer. Younger. More real.
He stares for a full second before remembering he’s supposed to speak.
“Oh—uh—hi,” he says. His voice cracks on the first word. “Um. Y/N? Right?”
You’re not sure if it’s from dancing or nerves.
“Yes,” you reply, stepping inside when he waves you in.
The room smells faintly of fabric softener and sweat, like someone has been practicing for hours. His phone lies on the floor, music paused mid beat. A water bottle rests beside it.
He closes the door carefully, then stands in front of you with both hands shoved into his hoodie pockets, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
“I’m sorry,” he blurts, eyes darting everywhere except your face. “I was practicing and lost track of time and then I remembered you were coming and I panicked and —yeah. Anyway. hi.”
You set your backpack down, trying not to look as overwhelmed as you feel.
“hii..,” you say again. “It’s okay. I wasn’t waiting long.”
He nods, though he still looks flustered. He gestures awkwardly for you to sit on the floor, so you do, leaning your back against the mirrored wall. He sits across from you too close, then too far, then too close again until he finally gives up and folds his legs in front of him.
You pull out your notebook, opening it to the first page.
He inhales like he’s about to go skydiving.
“I think so. Maybe. Probably not. But I’ll try.”
You suppress a laugh. “okay. Let’s start with where you got stuck last time.”
Keonho opens his own notebook and you swear you can hear angels screaming. It’s a disaster. Doodles everywhere. Stray equations. A dragon that looks like it was drawn during a breakdown. The words 2cool4skool are scrawled in the margins.
You bite your lip to keep from smiling. He notices anyway.
“Sorry,” he mutters quickly, cheeks turning pink again. “My handwriting’s bad.”
“It’s not that bad,” you lie.
His eyes flick up to yours, warm and hopeful. “Really?”
“Really,” you repeat, softer this time. “We’ll make it better. Bit by bit.” He relaxes just a little.
Enough for something small and sincere to settle between you.
“Okay,” he murmurs. “I trust you.”
Your heart stutters at the quiet honesty in his voice.
And just like that, the session begins two teenagers in a quiet practice room, trying to understand math, and maybe…each other.
For the first ten minutes, you actually believe this might go smoothly.
He even asks a question that sounds intelligent.
You’re halfway through explaining a step by step method for rearranging equations when his attention suddenly...dissolves. His eyes drift toward the mirror, then his hoodie strings, then the ceiling, then the floor, then his shoe where he begins tapping a frantic beat like a drummer possessed. You pause mid sentence. “Uh… Keonho?”
He freezes, tapping foot in the air.
“Yes?” he replies, too quickly, like he’s been caught committing tax fraud.
“Yes—no—maybe. I just remembered something.”
You almost laugh, but you try to keep a straight face. “And you remembered this…during the equation?” “I remember it every ten seconds,” he says gravely, as if discussing a deep philosophical truth. Then he brightens. “Can we take a tiny break?”
“We’ve only been working for ten minutes.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, nodding enthusiastically. “Exactly why we deserve a break. We worked so hard.”
You raise an eyebrow. “You drew a dragon during the last problem.”
“That was stress relief,” he argues. “Studying is stressful.”
You give him a flat look.
“Okay okay okay five more minutes. I’ll behave. I swear.” He holds up his hands in surrender, but the grin tugging his mouth immediately ruins the effect.
You sigh, flipping the notebook around so he can see.
“Let’s start from here. If 3x + 2 = 11—”
He squints at the paper, then at you.
“Are we allowed to guess?”
“Are you sure? Because I feel like the vibes of the answer—”
He deflates dramatically, collapsing onto his elbows. “You’re cruel.”
“Technically my manager hired you,” he mutters.
“You’re still the one who has to learn this.”
“touché,” he groans, raking a hand through his hair. “I’m trying, I swear. My brain just…lags.”
“Exactly!” He looks proud of the comparison. “I have low signal. Sometimes it disconnects.”
You tap the paper. “Focus.”
“Oh. That kind of reboot.” He sits back up, straightening like he’s preparing to take a school portrait. His hair flop into his eyes, and without thinking, you reach out and push them aside.
His breath catches tiny and quick and for a moment the practice room feels too quiet, too warm, too fragile.
“Sorry,” you murmur, pulling your hand back.
He’s looks away again. Ear tips being pink. “You can…do that If you want. Because it helps. Maybe.” You pretend not to hear the last part.
He pretends not to die of embarrassment.
You both look at the notebook like it’s a hostage situation.
“Okay,” he says brightly, too brightly. “Math. Let’s solve the thing. With numbers. Cool.”
You hide a smile behind your hand. “Subtract the 2 first.”
You watch his lips move as he whispers the numbers under his breath, trying to convince the universe that math is a negotiable concept.
Then he looks up at you, eyes wide, like a puppy presenting a chewed up shoe as a gift.
“Is it…nine?” he asks hopefully.
You lean in, look at his work, then meet his gaze.
His entire face lights up.
Like he’s winning awards.
“Oh my god—I understood something? I UNDERSTOOD SOMETHING!”
He jumps to his feet, pointing at his notebook like it personally betrayed him. “I’m a genius! Tell my manager I’m smart! Actually—no—wait—tell Seonghyeon—he’ll cry—he said I only use 2% of my brain—LOOK AT ME NOW!”
You watch him spin in a small circle, waving his arms like he’s summoning spirits.
A smile that makes your chest feel too tight.
He looks at you like you’re magic.
And in a small voice one he thinks you can’t hear he whispers “This is kinda fun...because you’re here.”
You pretend you didn’t hear that either.
But your heartbeat definitely does.
By the time your session wraps, Keonho looks like he’s run a marathon and won a Nobel Prize in the same hour.
His notebook is a disaster.
You start packing up your things, sliding your pens into the small front pocket of your bag, trying not to think too hard about how close you and Keonho sat…or the way he kept sneakily glancing at you every time you explained something. A quick look, then back down, then another one like he couldn’t help himself.
You hear him rummaging behind you. “You’re not leaving yet, right?” he calls, sounding slightly breathless. You blink. “Uh… yeah? We’re done, aren’t we?”
He says it so urgently you freeze mid-zip.
He stumbles across the room, nearly tripping over his own water bottle, then skids to a stop in front of you. His hoodie is half-off one shoulder and he looks like a boy who sprinted for his life.
He shoves something into your hands.
Smelling…ridiculously good.
You blink at it, then at him.
“Food!” he announces proudly, chest puffed out. “Like—uh—thank you-food Tutor appreciation food homework survival food. Pick whichever title sounds coolest.”
His looks away. “I didn’t buy it.”
You open the bag and see neatly packed containers rice, chicken, vegetables, a separate small box of fruit cut into tiny pieces, even a thermos of tea. “You cooked this?” you whisper, stunned.
He scratches his cheek. “Well, yeah. I mean—kind of? It’s not that hard. I cook sometimes for practice because the others burn things and I’m the only one who remembers salt exists.”
“You cooked this,” you repeat. He looks everywhere except your eyes.
“If you hate it,” he says quickly, “just lie and say it’s edible. Actually don’t lie, wait—no—do lie? I don’t know. Just—don’t throw it away? It’s okay if it's not good I just thought you might like it or maybe you’d need it later because you seem like someone who forgets to eat when stressed and—”
He stops rambling instantly.
You lift the bag carefully, as if it holds something priceless.
“Thank you,” you say softly. “Really. This is…incredibly sweet.”
His shoulders relax, and the tiniest smile touches his mouth shy, relieved, proud all at once.
“Well…you helped me,” he murmurs. “And I wanted to help you back.”
A warmth you can’t describe.
Then he suddenly jolts upright like he remembered something terrifying.
“wait don't eat the grapes first those look ugly because I cut them wrong— actually just don’t look at the grapes at all—”
“Keonho,” you laugh, “I’m going to eat the grapes.”
“Long story,” he mutters, red to the ears. “But just…pretend they have dignity.”
You can’t stop laughing now, the sound echoing gently off the practice room mirrors. He watches you laugh, and something in his expression softens completely like you’re sunlight he didn’t expect to find.
Then he clears his throat, suddenly flustered again.
“Um…text me when you get home? I mean you don’t have to, but just so I know you’re safe. And so I know you didn’t die because of my cooking.”
You zip your bag, holding the warm food to your chest. “I’ll text you,” you promise.
His smile this time is small…but real. “Good.”
And as you leave the practice room, clutching the surprise gift, you can feel his gaze on your back warm, careful, almost protective as if something new is beginning, quietly, between the two of you.
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