Kai drummed his pencils against his desk waiting for class to start. This high school wasn't bad but he missed his old one terribly. He had so many friends in it. Hell, he even had a band. Now he was the new kid whose only friends, if you can even call them that, were his step-brothers'. Most of them were only nice to him because Beomgyu told them to be. Only two ever talked to him without Beomgyu around and only one out of the two texted him. He was a total loner here.
Beomgyu came in with a couple of friends by his side. He was insanely popular in the school. He looked over and saw Kai mindlessly drumming again. "Hey little bro!"
Kai awkwardly waved. He went back to thinking about nothing. Nothing was changed to something when Soobin Choi walked into the room. He was the only friend of Beomgyu who bothered to text Kai. This was also the only class they shared together. The drumming turned into absent mindedly doodling in his notebook.
Soobin walked over to Kai after greeting Beomgyu. "What are you drawing?"
The notebook was slammed shut. "Nothing!"
"Come on! Let me see!" Soobin snatched the notebook out of his hands then sat on top of his desk. He flipped through the pages until he found the drawings. All were different anime characters. The most recent being a half finished drawing of Sailor Moon. "Wow. These are really good."
Kai's face turned a vibrant shade of red. "Thank you..."
"I didn't know you liked anime. I finally have someone to talk to about it!"
"Really? You like it too?!"
"Are you kidding?" Soobin whipped out his phone to show off the case.
Kai gasped. "Aqua!" He wanted to weeb out but the teacher cut him off. She told everyone class was starting. Soobin left to his desk and Kai went back to thinking about nothing.
When the school day ended, Beomgyu threw his arm around his little brother and began to walk with him. "Make any friends yet? Man. I'm so tired. We had to run the mile and then our push ups test. Can you believe I didn't get first place?!"
Kai dryly said "nope. That sure is a mystery."
Beomgyu stopped walking. "Alright. What's wrong?"
"I miss my old school. No one talks to me here unless they're doing you a favor."
"Really? Soobin asks about you a lot. Yeonjun also said he tried talking to you but you didn't seem interested in anything he had to say."
Kai's eyes popped open with hope. "Soobin asked about me?"
Beomgyu grinned as he began walking. "Yeah. I told him you hate him."
"YOU WHAT?!"
The older began laughing hysterically. He laughed harder seeing Kai's face. "Ah... man..." He wiped a singular tear from his eye then calmed down. They started to walk again. "No but seriously, he asked if you'd be interested in hanging out with him."
"What did you say?"
"To quit being a loser and ask himself."
Kai couldn't keep the smile off of his face no matter how hard he tried to suppress it.
Beomgyu noticed but he pretended not to. He wanted to get them together now. His little brother had been so miserable the last few months. It would be a nice change to see him happy.
They had been living together for four months and Kai seemed to only open up to him. That made Beomgyu feel equally honored and saddened.
The younger spent the first month sneaking away to see his friends from his old school when his mom was asleep. That became harder to do when school started. His friends got busier and he had a months worth of lessons to catch up on with his enrollment. Now all of Kai's free time was spent in his room if Beomgyu didn't drag him out. The only times he truly saw Kai happy was when they dropped him off at his dad's house.
Kai's relationship with his mother got progressively worse. He didn't bother to bond with his stepdad. That man wasn't his dad and his dad was the best. Time with his dad also meant time in his old city. He had begged his dad to let him stay but the court didn't allow it. The second he turned 18, he planned on moving in with him.
Beomgyu went to his room and texted Soobin "he likes you. Quit being a fucking coward and ask him out."
"I can't just ask him out!"
"WHY NOT?!"
"Because! He won't want to date his brother's friend! That's weird!"
"Get out of your head you big dumbass and ask him out! He will say yes! I'm sure!"
Soobin didn't bother to text back. Beomgyu took it as a good sign. Now he just had to wait. He checked the date on his calendar and realized his mom was picking him up tonight. It was about to be her week now. He yelled "KAI?! YOU STAYING HERE OR DO YOU WANT TO GO WITH ME TO MY MOM'S FOR THE WEEK?!"
"STAYING HERE!"
Beomgyu thought that was odd. Kai usually chose to move with him. He started to pack his bag then dove right into his homework. His mom picked him up a few hours later.
Kai waited until his mom was asleep then took an uber to his dads. He had a bag ready to go. As far as his mom was concerned, he was with Beomgyu. He knocked on the door. "Hey dad."
"What are you doing here?"
"Staying with you this week. Please?"
"The court says you need to be with your mom kid. You know I'd let you stay in a heartbeat."
"Please dad? At least for tonight? I'll go back tomorrow if you make me!"
Mr. Huening caved in. He missed his son an equal amount. "You can sleep on the couch. Your mom thinks you're where?"
"At Beomgyu's with his mom for the week."
"And how do you plan on getting to school?"
"Uber. Or I can bike."
"I'll drive you. I'm not letting you do that for a week."
Kai hugged his father tightly. "I love you dad. Thank you."
"I love you too. I really miss you. Go wash up. I hope your homework is done."
"It is." Kai obeyed. He fell asleep after being handed a thick blanket and a pillow. His dad woke him up an hour earlier than he was used to. His new school was far from his old one.
Walking into class felt different now that he was back with his dad. He felt happier. While he was waiting for class to start, Kai continued his drawing.
Soobin nervously walked over to Kai's desk. "Hi..."
Kai looked up. Joy radiated in his eyes when he saw who it was. "Hi!"
"Sorry if this sounds weird but do you want to hang out sometime?"
"I'd love to Soobin! Why would that be weird?"
"... I thought you wouldn't want to because I'm friends with Beomgyu."
Kai sweetly ripped out his drawing of Aqua and handed it to Soobin. "I'd love to. Text me when."
Beomgyu walked into class late. He saw the drawing on Soobin's desk. It made him temporarily happy until he remembered the worried call from his dad this morning. He aggressively walked over to Kai and asked "where were you last night? My dad said you weren't home."
"Where do you think I was?"
"Your dad's house?" Beomgyu wasn't met with an answer. He knew Kai was worried about getting his dad into legal trouble. "If I tell him you were at a friend's house, will you never do this again? I'm not going to keep covering for you."
"You don't have to for much longer. I'm moving out when I'm 18."
"Why? I thought... does that mean you'll never see me again?" It took Beomgyu so long to break down Kai's walls. He didn't want to lose his little brother.
"I thought we were going to be roommates in college."
"Really? You never mentioned that before."
Kai went back to drawing in his notebook. "I figured it was a given. Do you want to?"
Beomgyu quickly hugged him then straightened his clothes out. "Yes! We're going to have the best dorm! You'll see!" Beomgyu went to his desk when class started.
Not much good came from Kai's parents getting divorced. His mom's remarriage was even harder. His entire concept of family was shattered in the span of two years. Beomgyu was proof family wasn't based off of blood. All those nights, all of those deep conversations, all of those bonding activities they did together made Kai realize he was worth keeping around. Beomgyu refused to abandon him. Kai vowed to do the same.