Friends I han seojun ff ft. lee suho

#037

chapter 37

To say Seojun's words didn't sting would be a lie.

It was rather that Suho had grown such a hard shell around himself all these years, that tears no longer found it as easy to fall out of his eyes as they used to before. 

While his soul was screaming on the inside, tormented by memories of the night Seyeon ended his life, Suho could not manage a single emotion on the outside. It was occasions like these that the boy would wonder if Seojun really was right- that he was a cold-hearted, selfish person who was unable to look beyond his own misery.

Suho knew, if there was anything he really did know, that going home was not an option. He tried. He really did, but the haunting solitude of his place only served to fuel his inner turmoil. 

Eventually, the melancholy boy found himself leaning back against the couch at Prince's comics, feeling as hollow as he'd ever felt. He kept his hands clasped tight in front of him to best hold himself together and looked ahead blankly, his gaze unfocused and awash with pain, as if he was set ablaze from the inside.

Suho could not help but remember a similar time in his life at that moment- when he had cried his eyes out over a comic book while sitting on the same couch. Back then, he had been cheered up by a little girl much like himself. The boy couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle while thinking back to the fond memory. 

"Lee Suho-"

Suho sat up straight, his head snapping towards the doorway, being startled out of his thoughts by a familiar female voice. However, contrary to his initial expectations, it wasn't her. It wasn't Song Yoon-ah. 

The boy was mildly surprised to see Lim Jukyung standing by the door when, in fact, it shouldn't have surprised him at all. Of course, Jukyung and himself hung out at the store often. If not as friends, then as fellow comic book lovers. The reason Yoon-ah knew about it was simply because he hadn't known who else to call when Jukyung had been constantly avoiding him. So, how could he have expected to see the brunette there?

There was a part of him that didn't understand, perplexed by a new feeling stirring within him, a peculiar sensation that he couldn't quite explain. The other part of him tried to be reasonable Perhaps it was due to the guilt teasing in the back of his throat since that morning after he had lashed out at her. Although the boy understood that he needed to apologize, he was not sure how to do so while sounding sincere. 

Tearing away his mind from his thoughts, Suho glanced at Lim Jukyung with detached curiosity. "What are you doing here now?"

"I was passing by and saw you inside," Bare-faced Jukyung grinned. Suho felt another, more pronounced flutter go through his heart at the girl's smile. However, he only looked at her with a blank façade as she set down a drink on the table. "Here- drink this."

"I saw Seojun leave earlier," she continued, taking a seat next to him. Suho felt somewhat comforted by the mere presence of the girl; that at least meant he wasn't left all alone with his dark thoughts. "Did you clean up all by yourself? Why did you let him leave?"

"He didn't get detention. His friends did," the boy said plainly, wanting to avoid the painful memories of the evening.

"Really?" Jukyung echoed, frowning. "But he wasn't in class after lunch either. I assumed he was loitering around with his friends, or picking a fight with you. Or in detention, obviously."

Jukyung broke open the snack packet in her hand, nibbling on it with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Why do you both fight like little kids?" she asked, then shook her head. "Never mind. I shouldn't be the one to talk. I fought with my brother not long ago."