my sweetest love // bnd hyeokmyungz

11. "cheer up, buddy."

Yongguk stood at the end of Jaehyun's room, arms crossed as he locked his eyes on the boy wrapped inside his duvet. Jaehyun sat up, sniffling slightly as an indication of his crying. Yongguk's heart softened at the sight, letting out a small laugh as he stepped in. "I heard your boyfriend broke up with you."

"Please don't come make fun of me, hyung—"

"I'm gonna tell you about what happened between me and your brother," Yongguk told him, sitting on the edge of Jaehyun's bed. Jaehyun turned to face him, wiping his already puffy eyes of any remaining tears as he listened patiently. "You look pathetic, by the way. Because of a boy?"

"You won't understand how sad I am about my first boyfriend dumping me after a week," Jaehyun muttered, looking down with despondent eyes. "Sanghyeok... meant everything to me. I wanted nothing more than his love. I put everything into this relationship — it's a pity he never loved me."

Yongguk raised a curious eyebrow but kept the topic for after their conversation. "Right. For now, let me tell you what happened with Jaerin. As you may already know, your brother and I... dated. It got as far as us promising to be engaged one day because we... loved one another like crazy. To this day, I'm glad your mother still treats me with such love and care."

"Jaerin hyung never told us why he broke up with you — he just told us to continue treating you like a person," Jaehyun added as he crossed his legs. "It's been, what, six years since he moved with his girlfriend?"

Yongguk chuckled, clasping his hands together as he looked down. "Jaerin broke up with me because he no longer loved me. He moved on and, clearly, found another love that he is far happier with. We didn't part ways because he's a shit person, or I cheated, or anything nonsense like that. We just... fell out of love. Sometimes I catch myself still thinking about your brother, just going, 'Oh, Jaerinnie would've liked this jacket', or stuff like that."

Jaehyun slowly nodded, looking up at the other. "Have you managed to find love since?"

"Not really," Yongguk sighed, "apart from the occasional club meet-up. Nothing compares to my relationship with Jaerin, so maybe I'm just worried about disappointment. Nevertheless, what I'm trying to tell you is that you should figure out why your boyfriend broke up with you. Did something happen? Did you do anything wrong?"

"I was the best boyfriend ever," Jaehyun said quickly. "He wouldn't answer my calls, and after picking up eventually, he broke up with me on the spot! He said he never loved me, doesn't love, and never will love me. He told me to stop contacting him and told me firmly that we were broken up."

Yongguk noticed Jaehyun's teary eyes and gently raised a hand, patting his back to soothe him. "It's okay, buddy."

"It's not okay, hyung."

"Come on, Jae — you're a big guy," Yongguk told him. "I'll tell you what — you can take tomorrow off as well to cry your heart out. I understand that you're distressed, so take tomorrow off, and I'll see you back on Thursday, okay?"

"Thank you, Yongguk hyung-nim," Jaehyun sniffled. "I wish I had the strength to hug you, but... I haven't eaten today..."

"You better be back up and running by Thursday because we have a junior training class, and I need you behind the counter," Yongguk laughed as he pointed his finger. "You're my ex-boyfriend's little brother, Jaehyun. I still have to take care of you. Otherwise, you'd have a pointless existence."

"Oh, so you're the light of my life?"

"If it's not your boyfriend anymore, it can at least be your boss, hm?"

Jaehyun smiled slightly. "It'll be a while before I get over Sanghyeok. He meant the world to me. I'll... I'll figure things out, I guess."

Yongguk patted Jaehyun's back one last time before standing up from the bed. "Don't let it get you so bad, kid. I'll see you at work."

Jaehyun nodded, watching as Yongguk left his room. He looked at his phone with a soft sigh — Sanghyeok was still his wallpaper, too. As much as he was hurting, he couldn't bear to get rid of Sanghyeok's traces. Sanghyeok truly meant everything to him, and he couldn't stand hurting so much. He desperately needed answers.

Maybe he should overthink a little bit.

•

Sungho had his arms crossed, staring down at Dongmin's phone on the table. "So Sanghyeok's ignoring you too?"

"He broke up with Jaehyun hyung and disappeared," Donghyun explained. "I don't understand it. It's so sudden — Jaehyun's devastated, too. He returned to work, but he's hardly smiling, and he doesn't hang out with us. It's been this way for two weeks now, and we can't get a hold of Sanghyeok at all."

Sungho bit his lip nervously. "Do you think it's his dad? I mean, there's no other reason Sanghyeok would break up with Jaehyun. Those two were insufferably in love with one another — there's just no way Sanghyeok would suddenly break up with him."

Donghyun remained silent for a moment before nodding. "It's his dad. He's the only reason — Sungho hyung, you're right."

"We need to go to his house," Sungho said suddenly. "I'm going over. Are you two coming? Well, Dongmin is probably staying for Seeun. Donghyun?"

Donghyun silently stood up, nodding his head as he picked up his skateboard. "I know what to say to him. You'll be the one to drag him out of the house — I'll talk to him."

"Let me know how it goes, okay?" Dongmin hummed, earning nods from his two friends. "I'll talk to Jaehyun — maybe try to pull him out of this slump."

Sungho nodded, leaving with Donghyun quickly. Dongmin sighed as he met his boyfriend's eyes, causing Seeun to chuckle. "Why is your friend group so unique?"

"In what sense?" Donghyun asked, resting his hand on Seeun's head.

"A fish tank loving skateboarder, a skateboard customiser that just got dumped, boyfriend that dumped said customiser, and the only employed guy."

"... when you put it like that... let me just talk to Jaehyun. Wait here, okay?"

"Mhm. Love you."

"Love you too, loser."