【•ｃｈａｒｍｅｄ•】- 𝐚 𝟗𝟎'𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐢 𝐚𝐮

【•Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ １•】

Jungwon's POV
December 28, 1998
3:29 P.M.

Jungwon stepped out off the café, using one gloved hand to hold a hot cup of coffee. The icy winter breeze shot through him like an electric shock, and he shivered. He used his free hand to pull the hoodie on his jacket over his head. Snow flurries floated through the air as if they were mimicking feathers, coating every surface that wasn't covered up.

He didn't use his car today, so he came to the shop by bus instead. He began to walk back to the bus stop he was dropped off at, sipping his coffee. The drink instantly warmed his body, making him feel less like the icicles that lined the buildings above.

After about a minute, he finally made it to the bus stop. There weren't many people there: only a parent with two hyper children and a tall boy in a black coat about his age. Jungwon was going to sit down, but a certain poster that was taped to the side of a nearby telephone pole caught his eye:

NEW YEARS PARTY AT
THE RETRO ROLL RINK

Day: New Years Eve

Starts: 9:00pm

There will be drinks, pizza, video games
and everything you could imagine!!

BRING YOUR FRIENDS!!!!
HAVE FUN!!!

-Lee Heeseung

This peaked Jungwon's interest.

'Does Sunoo, Jake, and Sunghoon know about this?' he pondered.

He made a mental note to call them when he got home and shuffled over to where the other people at the bus stop were to rest his feet.

Jungwon wasn't very into parties, or any major event at all. He'd rather stay in his room and scroll mindlessly on his bulky computer or listen to his favorite bands on his stereo. But this was different. He wanted to spend the last few hours of 1998 with his friends while having fun at the same time. It would be a great opportunity to bond even more with them.

After many bone chilling minutes, the bus finally became visible as it hummed through the city traffic.

'Thank goodness, I feel like I'm getting frostbite out here,' Jungwon thought to himself, immediantly jumping to his feet as the bus moved closer.

When the bus finally came to a stop and opened it's doors, Jungwon was about to step in before he was shoved aside by someone. Jungwon lost his balance, causing him to flail his arms to try and regain it. It was pointless though, as the slick sidewalk caused him to slip and fall on his bottom. In the chaos, Jungwon's precious coffee that he had just gotten flew out of his hand, spilling all over the sidewalk.

"Excuse me?!," Jungwon hissed, scrambling to his feet to confront the dude who just pushed him.

The boy whipped his head around to glare at Jungwon. He was significantly taller than Jungwon, so he had to look down at an angle to face him.

"Watch where you're going, punk."

Jungwon couldn't hide the shock on his face when he said that. The audacity of this bitch to physically PUSH him out of the way and then get mad at HIM for it and then call him a FUCKING PUNK. The boy seemed to notice Jungwon's agitation, because he smirked smugly.

Jungwon wanted to rip that smirk off of his face so badly. He watched in disbelief as the boy turned back around and walked onto the bus like he did nothing wrong. Jungwon balled his fists in anger and let out an exasperated huff.

He quickly stepped onto the bus, paid for his ride, and sat in the seat closest to the door. Jungwon quickly regretted that decision though, because when he looked to his left he saw the boy who had practically bullied him sitting on the row next to his. He quickly turned his head away from him so he wouldn't feel tempted to roundhouse kick him in the face.

As the bus started moving, he could practically feel the boy's eyes burning into the back of his head, but he still didn't turn around. Instead, he tried to focus on the passing buildings and cars that were out the bus window. Why was he even staring at him? Jungwon didn't even know anymore. He was tired, cold, and still upset about his spilled coffee. He just wanted to go home and sulk about everything to his friends on the phone.

Timeskip
3:41 P.M.

Jungwon reached his stop first, and he quickly thanked the bus driver and hurried off the bus. The doors on the bus closed and sped off, leaving Jungwon alone. He shivered. Since he had no coffee because of SOMEONE, the biting cold was starting to get to him even more. He trudged down the familiar streets of his neighborhood to his house.

He made a turn and saw the familiar structure that was his home. He quickened his pace, determined to get into the house as quickly as possible. He walked down the sidewalk, weaving between the 3 cars that were in the driveway, and to the door. He dug the house key out of his pocket and stepped inside. Warm, cozy air blasted his face and the smell of his mothers cooking tickled his nose. He sighed. He was so glad to be home. He slipped out of his boots and took off his jacket

"Jungwon! How's my boy doing?" his father said from the couch. He was watching an episode of "That 70s Show" with a newspaper in his hands. He turned around and gave Jungwon a smile, pushing up his large square glasses up his face. Jungwon tried to return the smile, but it came out more tense then normal. His father didn't seem to notice, though.

"Great!" Jungwon said in his most cheery voice as possible and briskly walked out of the living room into the kitchen. His mother was in there cooking tteokbokki.

"Hello, Wonie! How was your trip? Did you finish your coffee already? I thought you went to get some" his mother asked in Korean. Jungwon put up a thumbs up and tried to escape from the excessive questions, but was stopped by his mother.

"Jungwon, you seem off, why aren't you saying anything?" his mother pressed, turning away from her cooking to look at her son with a concerned expression.

"I'm fine mom, I promise," Jungwon reassured her. But his mother wasn't convinced.

"No, you aren't. Young man, you aren't going to stay right here until you tell me what's wrong," his mother said firmly, placing her hands on her hips. Jungwon closed his eyes in annoyance. Did all moms have this mysterious sixth sense that told them how someone was feeling or something?

"The coffee wasn't really good, and I wasn't able to fully enjoy it, okay?" Jungwon lied, execpt about him not being able to enjoy it. This answer seemed to satisfy his mother and her stern expression turned into an amused one.

"Ah, Wonie, you've always gotten sulky over small things," his mother laughed to herself, turning back around to tend to the tteokbokki.

A relieved Jungwon raced out of the kitchen, up the stairs and to his room. He opened the door and flopped face first onto his bed. He laid there for a few seconds, relishing in the fresh scent of the bedspread before reaching for the telephone on his desk. He decided he was going to call his childhood friend, Jake.

-☕-

This chapter alone took me like an entire week to make, I didn't realise how hard writing was 🥲
Anywayyys I hope whoever reads this liked the first chapter, working on chapter 2 rn
Have a good day/night 🤠👌🏽