try-hard •sunki au•

fourty-one

Sunoo didn’t expect to receive so much attention upon coming to class. It was nothing negative, instead they apologized to him. He didn’t know how to react and just kept a smile over his lips, trying to look as polite as possible.

Although he also spotted some students who were whispering with each other, Sunoo decided to not think about it too much. Seeing people who actually didn’t care about one’s preferences somehow made him feel that it’s okay being himself. It made him feel safe and confident. It gave him hope that he is accepted in this environment no matter who he is.

But among all the students greeting him in the hallway, he was waiting for a specific someone to see. Although he feels nervous just by the thought of crossing paths with him, Sunoo would not deny that he wanted to see him.

Will Riki still avoid him? Or will he smile, wave and walk beside him just like before?

Should Sunoo say hello? Or should he just walk past Riki and pretend like they didn’t see each other?

Sunoo didn’t know. He was half-relieved that he didn’t see Riki in the hallway. He thought he could at least see Riki in the cafeteria at lunch, but he didn’t.

The freshman was nowhere to be seen.

+++

“Heeseung-” “Jake-”

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds until Riki walked between them.

“I’m late,” Riki said.

Jake shakes his head as he laughs, looking back at the youngest. “Stop being rude.”

“Well, don’t get in the way. You lovers should stop getting into fights, I hate spying for someone,” Riki said, playfully glaring at Heeseung.

The guilty person looks down to hide his embarrassment. Why would Riki expose him like this?

“I’m off! Tell Jay I’m not joining for lunch, I have a very important schedule,” Riki says before he walks off the house, leaving Heeseung and Jake still standing on the way.

“Uhh,” Jake speaks, feeling nervous all of a sudden. “Will you-”

“I’m sorry about last time,” Heeseung directly said, still looking down.

Jake blinks, staring at the taller boy in front of him. He didn’t expect him to apologize, in all honesty.

“It’s fine, I understand,” Jake speaks. “So, uhm… Will you join us again at lunch later?”

“Well, that…” Heeseung finally looks up to meet his gaze. “I can’t…I’m-” planning to apologize to the sophomore.

Jake smiled, “Okay, maybe next time then.”

The younger then turns to go back to his room, but Heeseung grabs Jake’s hand making the latter look back.

“Let’s get dinner together tonight.”

“Like a date?” Jake hopefully asks.

“A date?” Heeseung’s eyes widened.

Jake nodded his head.

“If…that’s what you want,” Heeseung shyly said, withdrawing his hold of Jake’s wrist.

Jake’s smile widens before he continues walking to his room again, leaving Heeseung a blushing mess.

They're going to have their first date.

+++

Jungwon regrets entering the library right after the lunch break ended. He has two hours of free time before his next class and he wanted to use the time to advance read the lesson for his one major class.

But the moment he entered the library and scanned the room for a vacant table, he met a gaze with the person he didn’t want to see.

He almost forgot that Heeseung mostly hung out at the library, psh.

Jungwon avoided eye contact and moved to the second floor of the library. He finds himself in a good spot where no one can bother him. Except, he realized that Heeseung followed him.

“What now?” Jungwon asked, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

“I’m-”

“I will not be going to talk to Riki ever again, if that’s what you came here for. But it will not be my fault if Riki and Sunoo will cross paths and they’ll talk about it,” Jungwon cuts him off.

“No, I’m-”

“Can’t you see I’m a little busy here? Go away.”

“Jungwon.”

Jungwon went silent, staring at the person standing in front of him. He didn’t expect that the senior would know his name.

“I’m trying to apologize here, okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you or your friend in any way. I was just trying to protect Riki but I guess it’s not my decision whether he wanted to hear any explanations or not,” Heeseung breathed deeply to calm himself. “I’m sorry, Jungwon.”

Jungwon cannot speak as he was lost of words. He didn’t know how to react to that. Receiving an apology to a senior, specifically to Heeseung, never really crossed his mind.

“And I don’t think Riki and Sunoo will cross paths for a little while. Riki was purposely avoiding him, so if you ever had the chance to talk to Riki you can definitely explain to him. That is, if he’s not avoiding you too.”

“Also, I know it was partly my fault why you suddenly stopped communicating with Jay. He’s seriously worried about you, Jungwon. If you can’t forgive me, that’s okay, but please don’t ignore Jay anymore,” Heeseung pleaded.

“I’m sorry,” Heeseung smiled flatly at him before he finally walked away leaving Jungwon all to himself.

Jungwon sighed as he picked up his cellphone on the table. He clicked it open and the picture of Engene the kitten greeted him. Jay took this picture and sent it to him last time, he made this his wallpaper so he could see the kitten every day.

He unlocked his cellphone and went straight to his contacts. Although he changed his number, he still saved Jay’s number.

Jungwon stared at the contact for a while, contemplating whether to give Jay a call or just forget about it. But he feels guilty over ignoring Jay for the past two days. The senior didn’t even do anything wrong to him.

Jungwon felt his phone vibrate as his finger unconsciously touched the dial button. He panicked and tried to cancel the call but then the other line already answered.

And he accidentally touched the speaker button.

“Good afternoon, this is Park Jay speaking. May I know who is this?”

That kind and polite voice professionally answering the call echoed all over the quiet library and Jungwon was forced to leave the place.

tengyu_