RIVALS (sukhoon)

Chapter 17

Hyunsuk's POV

I had gone to pick Asahi up from school.

"Are you okay?" I asked and he nodded, even though he looked really upset.

"Okay, start talking." I demanded and he just shook his head before looking out the window.

He still had his bandage but he covered it with a black hairband.

"Have you ever mistaken someone's friendship towards you into something more?" He asked suddenly and I raised an eyebrow at him without answering.

Then he started laughing.

"Ahh, I'm sorry hyung, I didn't mean it that way."

I was glad to see him smile.

"So, what happened that made you ask this?" I asked.

"It's been four days hyung. He doesn't even seem to care that I'm mad at him. He is just living his best life. He tried calling me once, on Friday, being petty, I called him back on Saturday afternoon but he declined my calls. Only for me to see him happily chilling at a party. Meanwhile I was so upset about everything. I could hardly even sleep. Yet, he could go for a party."

I had gotten to Asahi's house but I parked the car.

We had a lot of things to talk about.

"What exactly is making you so upset? You're the strongest player on our team. It's almost impossible for a ball to get past you. His team strategy has always been to eliminate the strong player. What's making you upset now. Everyone knows this."

He bit his lip and then looked at me.

His emotions where still guarded on his face, but I heard them, hidden in his voice.

"I thought I was an exception hyung. I thought he couldn't hurt me."

"He didn't Sahi. Ki Jun did, and even that was an accident."

He looked at me like I was stupid.

"You're kidding right? Ki Jun himself came to tell me that it wasn't an accident. It was their plan. He gave me audio proof as he gloated."

I was shocked.

"Play the proof." I said and Asahi brought out his phone.

He searched through his audio before playing one.

"Ki, are you okay?" I heard Jaehyuk's voice clearly.

"You did great. Do you want to be substituted?"

"Yes, since I'm done with what I was called here to do."

The audio ended and I frowned.

"But Jae said he was substituted because he hurt his leg."

"Nope. Apparently it was all part of their master plan to win. I know that has been their strategy since I've even known that school but I thought that he was above that."

Seeing Asahi's sad face, something wasn't adding up to me.

Okay, let's assume that Jaehyuk lied about what he told me.

Why would he ignore Asahi after telling me what he felt about him.

Even if he was lying about everything else, he couldn't have been lying about his feelings, if he was lying, I'd recommend he drops football and go for acting.

That's where his real talent lies.

"You're home now Sahi. Just drop everything and rest well okay. I'll take care of it."

He got down and waved while I drove to where I knew the asshole was going to be.

I parked my car in front of the bar and stormed in, like I guessed, he was sitting down on his usual table, drinking beer.

I stepped in front of him, completely pissed off.

"What is your problem?" I snarled and he looked up at me.

"Depends. What exactly do you mean?"

"Why are you trying to split up Jaehyuk and Asahi? Have you given up on Jihoon and you're now chasing someone else? What the hell do you want from them? Why does seeing people broken make you happy?"

Everyone in the bar was looking at us.

He stood up and laughed.

"Jaehyuk didn't choose me for the next captain. I wanted to be captain when he left but he didn't choose me. How was i supposed to sit down and watch? I had to pay him back. I started with making sure that his tests always went missing so his grade dropped but it didn't affect him. I made the coach find fault with everything he did but it didn't upset him. I was starting to think he was impenetrable until I saw him hanging out with Asahi one day."

"You're an absolute freak." I spat and he just laughed.

"Messing up with their relationship, and finally I get the reaction I want. He skips practice. He doesn't talk to anyone. His friends force him to a party and he gets into a fight with someone. He is a mess and the coach is planning to kick him out."

"What makes you think that you'll be the replacement?" I asked and he just smiled.

"Why are you the way you are?" I asked and he just looked at me before laughing.

"How can you, out of all people, how can you understand? You're so selfish that your only problem in life was the fact that your crush didn't like you back. All my life, no one has ever chosen me. Nobody. Not my father, not my first friend, not my crush, not my family, not the coach. I try so hard but no one ever sees me first. I'm always the replacement, ready to be substituted whenever someone better enters the picture."

He was crying now and honestly, while I felt bad for him, I still didn't see any excuses for his actions.

"Am I that hard to love?"

I stared at him incredulously.

"Trust me, you don't want me to answer that." I replied.

He looked even sadder and I sighed.

"Okay, it's never too late to change, you'll get another chance if people see you're serious. However, I want you to stay away from Sahi and Jae. You're ruining things for them."

"I want to apologize to them and say the truth."

I didn't trust him.

"No. Don't tell them anything. I'll go and say things myself. However, I also need you to stay away from Jihoon. Please."

When I left, I felt like a weight had left my shoulder.

At least for now.

____________________________________

Ohhh our baby snapped.

Who likes Ki Jun?🥲

Love Chilli 💜