𝓈𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 ─── ˢˡᵒʷ ᵘᵖᵈᵃᵗᵉˢ

¹². ❞𝐰𝐞❜𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞❜𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲❞

''  "ʷᵉ'ʳᵉ ʰᵉʳᵉ ᵗᵒᵍᵉᵗʰᵉʳ, ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵐᵉᵃⁿˢ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ʷᵉ'ˡˡ ᵇᵉ ᵒᵏᵃʸ" ''

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Sunoh's talk with Joo-won went well. 

As hard as it was for him, the Hwang boy had gathered up all of his courage and told his friend everything. All about what went on between him and Jojo, all about how hard it was for him to deal with their sudden breakup, all about how Nari had appeared out of nowhere with what he had assumed to be a similar story to his, and all about how she had saved him from drowning in his pain by suggesting that they heal together.

Joo-won hadn't interrupted him while he spoke, only humming a few times to let the Hwang boy know that he was listening. When Sunoh was done, Joo-won took a moment to piece together all of the information that he had been given and conjure up a bigger picture that was easier for him to assess.

"So you're saying," he asked cautiously, "That the two of you have decided to date in order to both get over your exes?"

With a nod, Sunoh answered, "Yeah—that's essentially what's going on. That's why I said that it was complicated when you asked me about whether I was using Nari or not earlier—I am using her, in a way, but she's using me too and it's all for a good reason, so..."

"Alright, I think I get it now," Joo-won replied, nudging a nervous-looking Sunoh and offering him a grin, "You can relax already. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions earlier—I should've listened to your explanation before assuming things and yelling at you."

Sunoh shook his head immediately. "It's alright—I understand. I'm sorry too, for not explaining things properly sooner."

"It's fine—don't worry about it. So," Joo-won's grin widened, "We're good now?"

"Yeah," Sunoh replied, cracking a small smile, "We're good."

"Great!" Joo-won cheered, throwing his hands up into the air as a gesture of celebration. As he lowered his hands, his face turned serious for a moment and he warned, "On a serious note, this better be the last time that you go MIA on me—I mean it when I say that next time I'll just give up on being friends with you. Don't just disappear like that and avoid me with no explanation again, okay?"

Sunoh nodded as he promised, "Don't worry, I won't. I know now that isolating myself from everyone wasn't the best decision that I've ever made, and I won't make the same mistake again—trust me."

"Alright then, I'll take your word for it. Now," Joo-won flung an arm around his friend and grinned again, "Let's go to the cafeteria—all that confrontation and making up has made me really hungry and I'm starting to crave some warm bread and strawberry milk. Come one—if we hurry we can probably get there before everything sells out!"

Not giving Sunoh a chance to either agree or protest against the idea, Joo-won began to pull his friend away towards the main building where the cafeteria was located, chatting excitedly the entire way while Sunoh listened with a small smile playing on his lips. 

─🌊─

"What do you mean, 'she's gone'?" Sunoh asked, frowning down at their homeroom teacher who stared blankly up at him from where she sat at her desk. "Gone where? When? Why?"