Gawin's eyelids opened to reveal his desk's gentle illumination. He rose from his desk. He was rigid. He removed the blanket from his body and folded it carefully. He returned it to his bed. He began stretching after he sat upright by moving down to his legs after beginning at the top of his body. His body was starting to feel much less tight and sore.

Now he was much more at ease. Oh, how he missed this; it was the weekend. Additionally, Gawin completed a significant portion of his curriculum because of Joss. He just had a few tasks to complete, but he had the whole weekend to do them so he could put them off till tomorrow. Hold on, Gawin took a step back and thought about Joss again. He is going to see Joss despite the fact that it was the weekend. For almost two seconds, he was totally unaware that Joss was working just beneath him.

After finishing his bathroom routine, he walked down the steps and cautiously opened the gate. He was wearing his uniform as he wanted to help Joss around the shop. His eyes widened when he got to the bottom. This was the most people he had ever seen at the store! When Gawin looked around more closely, he saw that other people were working throughout the store wearing the same outfit as him.

Did his dad hire more people? But if his father had hired more people, wouldn't he be told about this?

"Are you going to help or not, Gawin?"

"Huh?"

Joss was in front of Gawin, who was standing near the gate. This time, he wore new glasses, rolled up his sleeves, and crossed his arms. He was tapping his left foot and had his right eyebrow up. The tapping was excessively quick, had a terrible rhythm, and caused Gawin to get alarmed.

The arms Gawin had by his side trembled. As he looked at the floor, he noticed that Joss had stopped tapping. "If you're not going to assist, go finish your assignments instead," a deep voice said, "In any case, we don't need any of your help in this case."

Joss had leaned in Gawin's direction. Gawin swallowed whatever was lodged in his throat, feeling the minty breath against his face. Gawin's gaze swept over the room before settling on Joss. Joss sneered at Gawin as soon as he noticed that he was staring at him. "All right? How are you going to proceed? Study or help us?"

Gawin had no desire to complete his schoolwork. Whether it was helping out in his father's store or even organising the stock in the back, he wanted to feel useful. When Joss was helping him in his bedroom yesterday, he had already put in a good number of hours of working. But he felt tense and unproductive since Joss was standing there, watching at him intently, expecting Gawin to respond.

"You can't even make a decision for yourself," Joss groaned, frustrated. Well, I'll decide for you instead. Gawin, return upstairs and finish off your assignment. After work, I'll see how you're doing."

Joss turned away, but not before clicking his tongue and wearing a scowl, and he left with a heavy gait. Joss treated him like this at school, making him feel insignificant, worthless, and foolish. He hated this sensation. It gave him the impression that he was incapable of doing anything and that he didn't deserve to make any progress.

At the moment, he was seated at his desk in front of his laptop, his notes set aside. He sat in front of his laptop for six hours without coming up with anything, even though his document was blank. Nothing, nothing special, nothing even basic, entered his mind. He continued to stare at the screen while his hands trembled, one on his mouse and the other on his thigh. Before Joss entered his room, he had to write something.

Gawin's feelings may seem foolish or unimportant to others, but this was not the first time Joss had made him feel inferior. Gawin can sense the insults even though Joss's remarks don't seem that way because they are hidden.

"Woah, I'm not even surprised. There's nothing on your document and how long-"

Joss swallowed what he had said. Gawin's face was streaming with drops—specifically, tears. Joss froze in his tracks. He saw that the man was murmuring something to himself and trembling wildly. He appeared to be in a state of complete devastation.

Joss walked to Gawin, stomping his feet. He lifted the youngster out of his chair. Gawin's moist face pressed against his neck. Joss was surprised because he had never saw Gawin cry before and usually didn't take his words seriously. Normally, he would give him the finger, stick out his tongue, and roll his eyes. However, this was very different from Gawin's behaviour.

Joss's waist was encircled by arms. He could feel the hiccups from Gawin's heavy crying and the snot streaming out of his nose as his sobs became more intense. His hold tightened over Joss as his shaking worsened. "You can wipe your tears and other bodily fluids on me."

Gawin pressed his head further into Joss's neck crook. Joss gazed at Gawin's wall posters. He was unaware of the extent of the man's enjoyment in other things. Music, basketball, and the numerous notes displayed on the man's wall. His gaze shifted from one note to another.

"Don't forget to study @5!"

"Finish Mr. Beaker's homework before Tues."

"Go to the library on Friday to gain more knowledge before the lesson!"

"Gawin! Close your phone and go over your lecture notes!"

There were notes of all kinds strewn across his wall. Last night, Joss didn't notice. He was too preoccupied with making Gawin complete his tasks. He was never able to comprehend the challenges faced by scholars. How can people put forth so much effort and still get such terrible results? He said that he saw Gawin as someone who was too lethargic to put in a lot of effort. A lazy nobody who believed he was too good for a scholarship and didn't deserve it.

However, he now realises that Gawin is not who he thought the kid was. Rather, he was a diligent individual who aspired to improve his academic performance. But despite his best efforts, he was unable to. The fact that he is currently shaking in Joss' arms, the reminders on his wall, the stacks of notes on his table, the tabs on his laptop, and the shelves full of textbooks all demonstrated that.

He desired those grades and wanted to demonstrate his ability to do so, but for some reason all of his study sessions, his meticulous attention to detail, the breaks he took to review his lecture notes, and the time he spent avoiding friends but using to get ready for his tests never paid off. In his work, his diligence never paid off.

Joss placed his head on Gawin's shoulder and began massaging his back in circular motions. He reached up to Gawin's head with his other hand. He began to massage his hair. He wanted Gawin to stop crying, to cease hiccupping, to stop shivering, and to calm down. He didn't like seeing Gawin like this, and it made him very uncomfortable.

At that point, he made a decision he never would have otherwise. He moved both his body and Gawin's body carefully down to his bed. He took Gawin's legs and put them around his waist while he was sitting on the bed. Gawin's head was moved away from his neck by him. A face staring at him with red eyes, red cheeks, and a puffy nose was covered in tears.

"I'm sorry, Gawin. I'll try to make it up to you. I'll help you with your studies, okay? Don't worry too much right now."