anti-romantic ; hajeongwoo

fifteen: scared to be lonely

"Hey, Jeongwoo!" Jaehyuk beamed a smile as soon as he saw Jeongwoo walk home with an empty container of the sweet and spicy chicken that he cooked for Asahi. "Did he like it?"

Jeongwoo dropped the bag on the dining table as he sat down next to Junghwan at the living room. "He ate it all, isn't it obvious?" He replied in a sullen mood.

Junghwan raised his eyebrow as soon as he noticed Jeongwoo's mood. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be happy? You hung out with Haruto today-"

"He didn't come." Jeongwoo cut off, laying his head on the sofa. "Asahi Hyung and I were the only ones who ate the dish."

Jaehyuk tilted his head, confused of Jeongwoo's sudden gloomy expressions. "Well, that shouldn't mean much to you. You guys are just friends and you accepted it."

"Mhm!" Junghwan nodded his head in agreement. "But don't tell me... you're still affected by the rejection-?"

"I'll get some rest inside the room, I'm not feeling well." Jeongwoo smiled bitterly as he took his bag and went inside the room Junkyu and he share.

Junghwan and Jaehyuk looked at each other, still unaware of why Jeongwoo's been acting this way. They're just gonna assume that it's because he's still affected by the rejection.

—

Jeongwoo dropped to the floor of their room, catching Junkyu's attention who immediately came running next to him, stroking the younger's back.

"What's wrong, Jeongwoo?" Junkyu asked even though he knows Jeongwoo cut off their friendship. "I know I'm in no place to talk to you or care about you but I'm still a Treasure J member, the mom of the group, which makes me concerned about you."

Jeongwoo looked up to Junkyu with teary eyes which made him assume that this problem was serious. "Hyung, all I did was fall in love, why does everyone have to leave me in the end?"

Junkyu sighed as he pulled Jeongwoo into a hug to comfort him. "So you know that Haruto's in pain, right?"

"Asahi Hyung told me about it..."Jeongwoo wiped his tears away but they just kept on flowing out. "...What if Haruto leaves me too? Just like how Doyoung left me?"

Junkyu felt even more sad for Jeongwoo. He knows the reason why he's like this. In fact, even though they're not that close, Junkyu knows Jeongwoo the best.

Unlike Jaehyuk, Junghwan, and Junkyu who became an idol because it was their dream, someone else pushed Jeongwoo to where he is now.

[FLASHBACK: JEONGWOO'S CHILDHOOD]

"Hyung! Let's stop playing for a while~!" Jeongwoo smiled as he stopped chasing the little red haired boy. "There are clouds above! Let's lie down to look at them!"

"Alright!" The redhead lied down next to Jeongwoo as they stared at the clouds above. He was wearing a red shirt and black Jean's and was a little chubby than Jeongwoo. He's no other than Jeongwoo's childhood best friend, Kim Doyoung. "That cloud looks like a bun!" Doyoung pointed up to the sky.

Jeongwoo giggled as he hugged Doyoung tightly. "My dream is to be a pastry chef! Isn't it so cool?"

Doyoung shook his head as he sat up, staring at Jeongwoo with his eyebrows meeting each other. "No, Jeongwoo! You should be an idol~!"

"But I want to be a pastry chef..." Jeongwoo sat up too with a frown on his face. "Isn't it your dream to be an idol?"

"Exactly!" Doyoung exclaimed since he's a bright and outgoing extrovert who likes to be by Jeongwoo's presence. "We'll train together and shine together! It will be amazing and you won't ever be alone since I'm with you!"

Jeongwoo pouted, declining the offer. "I still want to be a-"

"Be an idol with me or you'll lose me as your friend!" Doyoung frowned as he placed his hands next to his waist. "You have the choice to be a pastry chef and lose your one and only friend or Be an idol and still have a friend like me!"

Just like what Doyoung said, during that time, Jeongwoo's only friend was him so he had to go with him so that he won't ever feel lonely. "Ugh, fine. I'll be with you... but you promise me that you'll never leave me behind!" He raised his pinky towards Doyoung's face, asking for a pinky promise.

Doyoung took minutes to intertwine his pinky with Jeongwoo's as if he was hesitating to keep a promise that's why in the end, he just ran away from Jeongwoo, continuing their playful day. "Catch me if you can, Woo!"

It all made sense on why Doyoung didn't do the pinky promise because he couldn't keep it. It's not like he didn't want to, but the universe just didn't let him.

Their friendship was going on a beautiful journey not until they were 13 where in Doyoung collapsed in front of Jeongwoo while they were chasing each other around the school campus.

Doyoung was brought to the hospital only for Jeongwoo to find out his childhood best friend's life span wasn't gonna last long because he was suffering from a heart disease.

"Treasure J's going to debut in a few weeks..." Jeongwoo hung his head low since he couldn't look at Doyoung's poor condition. "...You said we'd be idols together and shine together, why can't you join me in your dream that you pushed me to?"

Doyoung could only smile from his bed as he stared at Jeongwoo who was trying to hold himself from crying. "I didn't promise though... I knew you were going to be hurt."

Jeongwoo sniffed his tears away as he looked at Doyoung with a smile. "We'll be having our debut showcase. You'll be there, right?"

"Of course!" Doyoung weakly exclaimed. It was not like the way he exclaimed when they were younger because he is really weak right now and he's only living for Jeongwoo who didn't want him to leave. "If it's for you, I'll be there!"

Lies.

Doyoung didn't come. Just by the day the showcase was scheduled, Doyoung passed away during his surgery, leaving Jeongwoo alone.

The pain Jeongwoo experienced caused him a lot of trauma that's why he chose to think highly of himself and he didn't want to have more friends, thinking they'll leave him too.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

"If only Doyoung didn't push me to becoming an idol, I wouldn't meet Haruto. I wouldn't be a problem to him and I wouldn't experience the same pain again." Jeongwoo remarked, hugging Junkyu tightly.

Junkyu didn't want Haruto and Jeongwoo to catch feelings for each other but the more he didn't want Jeongwoo to end up feeling sad. "But you're the only one who changed his status of being an anti-romantic..." He softly muttered to himself.

—🍃—
I feel bad for Jeongwoo even though this is my storyline :'D

I'll just promise Jeongwoo a happy ending by making Haruto safe from what he has :)