Hide and Seek | JunHao

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October 5, 2015

It's been a more than a month since the incident. The boys took a while to adjust to Minghao's death, some unable to fully return to the way they used to be. However, Minghao's death was not the only qualm.

"Hey, Jun!" Seungcheol greeted Junhui as the Chinese male enters the classroom.

"Hey, been a while since we've been to school." Junhui smiles, sitting down on his chair and placing his backpack down. "I wanted to sleep some more though."

"You can sleep more if you want to." Jeonghan lets out a chuckle. "I'll wake you up later.

"As tempting as that sounds, I would rather not sleep on the first day since school resumed." Junhui grins. "I'll just sleep when I get home."

Jisoo looks around the classroom. He was still a little bit awkward with-well, everything.

"Was Jisoo always the quiet type?" Junhui raises an eyebrow. "I don't remember him being like that."

Seungcheol and Jeonghan looked at each other, slightly nervous.

"M-Me? N-No, I'm just tired." Jisoo stutters, scratching the back of his head. His eyes land on his two other friends from a few seats away-Soonyoung and Jihoon.

Soonyoung and Jihoon were not speaking at all. They were just at the far back of the classroom, their heads resting on the surface of their desks.

After Junhui woke up, he had memory loss. His memory became extremley foggy and he no longer remembers certain details in his life. Among the people he had forgotten was Soonyoung, Jihoon, Mingyu, Chan, Seungkwan, Hansol, and lastly, Minghao. The memory loss was a little more serious than they thought. They were not sure how to go about it.

Junhui's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wen decided that it might be best for their son to forget. This way, Junhui was no longer hurting. They had thrown away items that had any form of connection with Minghao-pictures, gifts, letters, and other things-keeping them inside a crate down the basement. They thought about burning them, but they could not bare to burn those items when Minghao was also like a son to them.

The relationship of the Wen and Xu family had been severed. They thought it was for the best. Mr. and Mrs. Xu would no longer see Junhui, the boy that would remind them of their son whom passed away, and Junhui would never have to remember the boy he used to love. Mr. and Mrs. Wen had been informed about Junhui's relationship with Minghao. It was not easy to accept, knowing that their was more to the two boys' relationship that simply friendship. Although, there wasn't really a lot of things they could do. Minghao was gone and Junhui suffered from a sudden form of amnesia.

Everyone around Junhui had to act like everything was normal. The ones that Junhui could no longer remember, no longer stayed by Junhui's side. They had decided that if they continued to stay being Junhui's friend despite his memory loss, it might cause further mental and emotional trauma for the boy.

It wasn't easy.

They lost Minghao, but in a way, it also felt as if they lost Junhui too. The friends who were remembered and the friends who were forgotten were also losing each other. Since the ones who were forgotten could no longer be by Junhui's side, naturally, they lost their chances of communication with one another. Everyone felt bad about it, but what else could they do? The living had to keep on living, and that was they way they chose to continue onwards.

Soonyoung's eyes met with Jisoo. Jisoo was feeling bad about all this. He was no longer able to talk to his other friends. He tried to talk to them whenever Junhui wasn't around, but they just weren't the same anymore.

Jihoon pats Soonyoung's shoulder, as Soonyoung looked away from the group of friends.

Jisoo was about to go up to Soonyoung to talk to them, but Jeonghan grabbed his hand.

"Jisoo." Seungcheol shakes his head in disapproval.

"Ah..." Jisoo pauses, just realizing what he was about to do. "Sorry. I must be out of it."

The door opens and the teacher walks inside the classroom. "Open your books on page fifty-two."

Teachers and other admin were also informed about Junhui's current condition. They were told not to speak much about Minghao. All had been shocked to hear about the boy's death, but they did what they could to ensure that Junhui was well and avoided the topic.

During recess and lunch, it was awkward. The twelve boys had sat in two different tables. One table was for Junhui, Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Jisoo, Seokmin, and Wonwoo. The other table was where the ones Junhui could not remember sat down-Mingyu, Seungkwan, Hansol, Chan, Jihoon, and Soonyoung. Both tables were far way from each other. Frequent glances at each other was thrown, but never got in a conversation.

Jisoo didn't feel like it was right. No one did, but this was the only thing they could do for Junhui. This was better than losing Junhui completely.

Wonwoo tries to talk to Junhui and entertain him. Usually, he would read a book when he had free time in school, but he could no longer do that. He cares about Junhui and his well-being. He did what he could to keep the Chinese male happy and smiling. It took a lot out of him, being the introvert that he is, but it was all worth it for his friend.

"You guys done eating?" Junhui puts down the juice box he had finished onto the food tray.

"Yeah, didn't really eat much." Jeonghan forced a smile out.

"Seokmin, I thought you loved pizza." Junhui furrows his eyebrows. "You okay, dude?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay!" Seokmin tries to smile as bright as he can, taking the slice of pizza on his tray and into his mouth. "I'll finish this up soon!"

Junhui took Jeonghan's food tray and stacked them below his food tray. "I'll put the trays back then."

"I'll help you." Wonwoo says, taking Jisoo and Seungcheol's trays along with his own.

The two walked together to return the trays.

"I don't know. I'm not sure if that genre of movies are for me." Wonwoo shrugged. "I also like books more."

Junhui's eyes were filled with unwavering brightnes. "No, but you really have to watch that movie it was so go-"

The Chinese male was about to fall on the ground, tripping in his own leg, but was caught by someone holding his arm.

"Oh, thanks." Junhui lets out an exhale of relief. "You saved me there."

The other student caught Wonwoo's eye, but just nodded as he left with four of his other friends.

"Weren't those Seokmin's other friends?" Junhui asks.

"A-Ah, yeah." Wonwoo stuttered. "I guess."

"Yeah, I think I remember seeing them when I was at the hospital." Junhui says, placing down the trays on the counter. "Did I used to be friends with them before I lost my memories?"

Wonwoo pauses. He wasn't sure what to say. No, he knew what he should say for Junhui's sake, but he had a hard time saying it. "No, not really." He bites his lip. "You've just seen each other a few times. That's all."

Junhui nods. "What's that guy's name though? The one that caught me."

Wonwoo grits his teeth, unsure whether he should lie about not knowing who they are or not. "Mingyu. Kim Mingyu." He answers.

"What abo-"

"We should get going, Jun." Wonwoo interrupts before Junhui could say more. "My teacher for my next period is a little bit strict."

"Oh, okay."

END