Who could stay in Im Hani's life if not Yang Jungwon?
Both Jungwon and Hani had undoubtedly changed each other's lives. As lovers, they now set a path into the world much more complicated. But now, the question is not whether they'll be able to expr...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
ㅤ
Jungwon is now sitting by the couch at Sunoo and Ni-ki's apartment. Ni-ki sat beside him, whilst Sunoo came from the kitchen with a cup of coffee.
Jungwon decided to pay a visit to his highschool friends after months of not meeting them. It's been a while. Jungwon have given almost every free time to Hani after all.
ㅤ
"So, not only did you get suspended from your work, you also just believed her like that?" Sunoo exasperated, his hand coming to tangle with his hair to express how stressed he is with the situation.
He rolled his eyes and huffed before sitting down at the chair next to the couch. "That's gotta be the stupidest thing I've ever heard, I shouldn't have told you about her. Yeorin would've taken care of her anyway."
ㅤ
Jungwon's eyes closed and his jaw slightly clenched, this wasn't the greeting he expected to get when he came by. The first thing his two friends asked was about how the talk went. If Jungwon didn't know any better, he'd think that the two were rooting for a break-up.
ㅤ
"I have to agree with Sunoo hyung this time, it's kinda... unfair, I guess? It's like she has you wrapped around her fingernails and I can't say it's exactly a... healthy relationship. If you know what I mean." Ni-ki explained carefully, though there were not much words to twist the harsh ones.
They witnessed Jungwon and Hani's love, but they also witnessed how the girl took away their friend's attention to them.
They won't blame their friend for being madly in love enough to devote all of him to the girl, they don't have an issue about Jungwon losing time for them.
But to think that they've been seeing Hani with another man around campus while their friend foolishly send his love to her, it's infuriating.
ㅤ
"No. I don't get it, Ni-ki. " Jungwon shaked his head profusely as he stared at his friends in disbelief.
"I didn't pass by to hear you both talk shit about Hani. I don't want to argue about this. I love her and that's that, you need to respect that."
ㅤ
Sunoo was fed up, so he stood from his chair with a thump. "That's not loving, Jungwon. It's being blind- And we're not even talking shit about her, we're just saying what we've been seeing all this time around the campus."
"Why else do you think would the rest of the publishing club make a whole article dhipping the two 'for fun' on the entertainment section of the university?"
ㅤ
"..What?" Jungwon was baffled. Hani never mentioned something like that.
ㅤ
"Oh, you don't know that? They've been posted on the school's page a couple of times with stolen pictures so now, there are some weirdos pinning for their freakin' romance."
ㅤ
Sunoo then narrowed his eyes. "They debunked the allegations at the article but from how their writer friends wrote it, they just made it seem like there's something going on. So, everyone rooted for them even more."
"They're both famous for being all lovey-dovey, you could ask the whole school and they'll tell you all about how the Jake guy stares at your girlfriend like she's his."
ㅤ
"Then it's that guy's fault, not Hani's." Jungwon retorted, scoffing loudly at his friend's accusations.
"Is Hani stupid enough to not set boundaries with a guy that everyone thinks of as her boyfriend? If you were in her shoes, would you just let it happen? Would you let rumors like that go around and still be close to the girl enough to feed the said rumors?" Sunoo rhetorically questioned.
ㅤ
Jungwon stopped for a moment. Sunoo's words hurt the fresh wound in his heart. He felt betrayal, but despite that, he persevered to reason Hani out of it. I should trust her the most.
"You know she's had a hard time with that from the start, do you even listen when I talk about her condition?" Jungwon talks back, but even that wasn't a sufficient excuse to suffice his perplexity.
ㅤ
Just as expected, Sunoo was quick to give an answer. "No, because I could never be bothered by a cheater who successfully manipulated my friend into believing her lies."
"Sunoo hyung, that's not helping.." Ni-ki didn’t know what to do nor what side to pick. He deliberately agrees at Sunoo's statement— having seen the complexity of the situation first-hand— though he is not quite comfortable of the way Sunoo expressed it.
He knew this would do more pain than realisation to Jungwon.
ㅤ
Sunoo rolled his eyes as a response, finding it disappointingthat Ni-ki didn't side with him this time. "Tch, whatever. You do what you want Jungwon, it's your life after all."
He crosses his arms and looked sternly at Jungwon. "But you don't get to cry on our shoulders if she breaks your heart, that's on you."
And with that, Sunoo walked out of the receiving area and locked himself in his own room with thundering thuds.
ㅤ
Ni-ki hesitantly looked to his side, where Jungwon could be seen staring off to nowhere. He's deep into his thoughts, and no matter how hard he tries to conceal it with a nonchalant expression, Ni-ki knew that his friend was struggling.
ㅤ
"I'm sure he meant well, Jungwon hyung... It's just because he really cares about you." He tried to console Jungwon, but he can't just bring himself to agree that Hani is good for his friend.
That was obvious for Jungwon. So, he only nodded, jaws clenched as tight as his furrowed brows.
He was tormented. Don't get him wrong, his friendship with these two people is valuable, they've been with him since middle school. He loved them. But who does he love more? What kind of love is more valuable?
Jungwon wanted to cry right then and there, but he stopped it. Because Ni-ki is right beside him. He couldn't bear letting the younger know how much of a hard time he's having.
And so, the best he could do was to sniffle silently, hoping that by the time he gathers the courage to get out of his friends' apartment, there are no tears to drop.
