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͙⁺˚*･༓☾
the next few days continued as normal until saturday morning came. or at least that's what kim sunoo kept trying to tell himself.
ever since that night, the night where park sunghoon confided in him, something in sunoo shifted. and maybe he always felt a little something had always been there, but now he felt it more than ever.
sunoo was no stranger to love, but when it comes to loving romantically, he certainly was. and in his current case, he couldn't hide how he was feeling from himself anymore. as scared as he was to admit it, sunoo didn't want to kiss anyone more than he wanted to kiss park sunghoon that night. it's like he had tampered with the glass around his heart, finally cracking it so his newfound feelings could seep through.
after discovering this mind-wrenching revelation, sunoo needed his best friend.
he needed his ni-ki.
it only took a couple rings before the younger picked up the phone. "hello?"
sunoo sighed in relief, a sense of security rushed through him once he heard riki's voice. "hi, ni-ki. are you free to talk today? i need you."
a moment of silence finally broke once ni-ki answered with, "i'm free."
and so nishimura riki appeared at the doorstep of his best friends home. his best friend that he hadn't been able to hang out one-on-one with in a while. sunoo answered the door, smiling. "yay! you're here!"
ni-ki grinned, too, letting himself inside. "let's play video games!" he exclaimed.
sunoo laughed at his excitement as he closed the door behind them. "sure, but i also wanted to ask you for advice."
once they boys had settled in sunoo's room to play some games, sunoo cleared his throat in hopes to start a conversation. "uhm, riki? can i be upfront with you?"
ni-ki, eyes glued to the television and fingers busy with the game controller, gave a simple nod in response.
sunoo set down his controller and took a deep breath. telling ni-ki about his feelings for sunghoon would make the whole thing real, and that scared him a bit. but if anyone knew how to help him it would be riki. "it's about sunghoon hyung...and my feelings for him."
at this, riki jolted forward, his thumb slipping off a button, causing him to lose the round in his game. he didn't care, though. he instantly perked up and turned toward sunoo. "f-feelings?"
sunoo nodded, unaware of ni-ki's sudden change in mood. "yeah. i...i think i like him."
ni-ki bit his bottom lip, nervously. so yeonjun-ssi was right...
when ni-ki didn't respond, sunoo took it as a sign to continue. "i've always felt this sort of, like, connection to him i guess. but i think i've now realized i really like him. what should i do?"
ni-ki felt his heartbeat speed up. suddenly, his throat was dry and he couldn't spit a word out. he felt so, so guilty. he doesn't deserve to be the one sunoo shares this news with.
the shift in mood didn't go unnoticed by sunoo this time. "r-riki? are you okay-"
"do you know choi yeonjun?"
the abrupt interruption takes sunoo aback. choi yeonjun as in sunghoon's ex-best friend and ex-crush? yes, sunoo knew of him. but how did riki?although a bit confused, sunoo nodded slowly. "uhm, heard of him, yes. why?"
ni-ki released a shaky breath, his eyes diverting their gaze down to his feet. "i've made a horrible mistake. if you don't forgive me, i'll understand."
sunoo was a mix of curious, confused, and worried. he wasn't sure how they went from his problem to ni-ki's, but he was too concerned now to dial back. what did ni-ki do?
"it was never supposed to happen. i was jealous and i wasn't thinking, but choi yeonjun was right there a-and he was convincing."
sunoo furrowed his eyebrows. "what do you mean?" he egged on.
sighing, ni-ki continued. "h-he asked me to find out if you and sunghoon were, you know, dating. he said in exchange...i-i'd get to have you more to myself. he didn't say how, but i was too angry to even care about that. i agreed to help him figure it out, but i wasn't able to."
by now, riki was starting to have trouble keeping his breathing at a steady pace. his lip was beginning to tremble, as well. sunoo sat still, processing it all.
"h-he told me i had to figure it out o-or i'd regret it. i don't know what that means, but he seems scary and powerful. and now that i know you like him, i'm scared of what will happen if i don't tell y-yeonjun," ni-ki cried, a mix of fear and guilt laced up in one.
despite being in complete surprise and shock, sunoo still enveloped the taller boy into a warm hug, allowing him to sob into his shirt. sunoo rubbed the boys back, but his mind was elsewhere, going a mile an hour to try and decode ni-ki's story.
why would choi yeonjun want to know about him and sunghoon? and what would he do to ni-ki if he didn't keep up his side of some deal?
"ni-ki?" sunoo cooed, softly.
sniffling, the boy lifted his head up. "hm?"
"you know that you're my best friend for life, right? no matter what happens, you're never getting rid of me. if you want more time with me or ever feel like i'm ignoring you, say something. i'd drop anything for you, okay?"
and he meant it, every word. ni-ki was like his brother. and family sticks together.
ni-ki nodded again, his eyes a little less heavy, but still sorrowful. "i'm so, so sorry. i love you, sunoo," he exclaimed, hugging the boy once again.
"i know, i love you, too, ya big baby," he replied, earning a muffled chuckle from the latter. "i don't know what this choi yeonjun's deal is, but stay away from him for now, okay? we'll figure this out."
ni-ki sat up again, wiping his tears and catching his breath. "okay, promise. now, back to you," he insisted, pulling a smirk, "tell me about your crush~~"
͙⁺˚*･༓☾
the crisp of the night tickled park sunghoon's skin. he laid out on the grass of his front lawn, something he's been doing quite frequently now ever since kim sunoo told him about it.
kim sunoo.
no matter how hard he tried, sunghoon couldn't shake the boy from his thoughts. the way his smile lights up a room and his touch heals a wound. kim sunoo felt too good to be true, like an angel sent down just for sunghoon to hold onto.
he'd never felt this way before. even back when he was younger, crushing on his neighbor and best friend, choi yeonjun never had the same effect on sunghoon as sunoo did.
it wasn't even because sunoo could hear the boys' inner thoughts, although that was an interesting factor. honestly, he was just...different. for starters, he wasn't homophobic like yeonjun. but he had this natural aura carried around with him that just drew sunghoon in more and more. nobody broke down his walls faster than sunoo did. nobody made him feel safer or more cared for.
nobody made his heart flutter he did.
so there, under the dimly lit night sky, park sunghoon hummed to himself in realization.
