𝘗𝘺𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 | 𝘺.𝘫𝘸 𝘹 𝘬.𝘴𝘯

💌 43 - acceptance

The happy boy quickly walks to his booth.

"Hey, Jungwon." Sunoo gives a light smile back.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming up to us as if you didn't ruin Sunoo's life." Jake crosses his arms.

"No no, I'm not here to cause any harm." Jungwon says sincerely.

Sunoo smiles at his friends. "Don't worry guys, Jungwon and I talked it out and we're on good terms."

Jay and Jake exchange wary shocked glances, the tension in the air was still thick even when things were resolved between the two.

"Really? When did you guys talk? Why didn't you tell us?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, and what do you mean everything's okay?" After all that has happened between you two. You're just going to let this guy get away with it?" Jay points to Jungwon.

Jungwon bites his lip.

"If you're talking about the incident at the showcase, Jungwon said he never had any part of it." Sunoo says.

"And how do you know he's not lying?" Jay glares at Jungwon.

"I would never lie to Sunoo, not after the pain I put him through. The last thing I want to do is hurt him. Sunoo gave me a second chance to at least be friends. I'm willing to change for him." Jungwon decided to speak up.

Jay scoffs. "What a joke."

Sunoo looks to Jungwon. "Can you give us a moment?"

"Of course, I'll be by the windows." Jungwon fulfills his request and decides to sit down at another table.

Sunoo sighs. "C'mon guys... I promise it's all good. It's not like I want to date him again."

Jake and Jay exchanges glances once more.

"I'm just... worried, Sunoo. We've seen you hurt before. I don't want you to go through that again." Jake says with a worrisome expression.

Sunoo smiles. "You guys always want me to do the things that makes me happy. I want to move on, and Jungwon gave me the closure I needed. And now that Mr. Kang's gone, I have never felt more better."

Jake let out a small sigh. "Okay. We'll take your word for it. But if anything happens, you know we got your back, right?"

"Always." Sunoo said, he turns to Jay for his approval.

Jay's face look defeated. "Fine. But I still don't trust him."

"Thank you guys for understanding."

Sunoo calls Jungwon to come back.

Jungwon smiles as he quickly makes his way there.

"So, what brings you to the mall?" Jake asks Jungwon.

"Oh, I'm just trying to look for something to give as present." He answers.

"Present?" Sunoo asks.

"Yeah... a couple of my friend's are going to this guy's birthday party so I figured to tag along."

"Are you talking about Yeonjun?" Jay asks.

Jungwon's expression brightens. "Yeah! Wait... are you guys invited?"

The three of them nod.

"Awesome!"  Jungwon says excitedly.

Jake's phone rings, he fishes it out. "Ah shoot, sorry guys I have to cut the hangout short. My siblings are having trouble with Layla."

"Is Layla okay?" Sunoo asks

"Yeah she's doing fine, just my siblings don't know how to take care of her properly..." Jake sighs.

He dunk downs his coffee, before grabbing his bags. "Let's all meet at my house to prepare on the day of the party. Other than that, I'll see you guys later!" Jake bids his farewell leaving only the three boys.

Jay then realizes something. "Oh shoot I forgot my cousins are in town today."

Sunoo chuckles. "Let me guess, you gotta go too?"

Jay nods. "You should come with me, my parents like you. Plus my cousins are super chill."'

Sunoo shakes his head. "No, it's okay I'll stay with Jungwon."

"You will?" Jungwon asked, surprised. Eyes widened.

Jay furrows his eyebrows in uncertainty. He pulls Sunoo closer to him for privacy.

"Are you sure? I don't like that you're here with him... alone and all. Just come with me." Jay whispers.

Sunoo pats Jay's head. "I'll be fine Jay, don't worry."

Jay sighs. "Well, I know there's no convincing you."

They both face back to Jungwon. Jay looks him up and down in annoyance.

"You better not do anything funny." Jay pokes him on the chest before walking away as he bids Sunoo goodbye.

Sunoo waved goodbye as Jungwon watches him leave.

They averted their gaze away from Jay, they lock eye contact.

"Let's get out of here, I'm suddenly not in the mood for coffee." Sunoo says.

—

Even though both boys made up, there still is a bit of awkward tension between them, which shows as they walk around the mall. No thoughts of going into any of the stores, mindlessly walking around.

"How have you been? I feel like it has been ages since we last talked."

"I've been pretty good, I didn't expect to run into you here." Sunoo said.

Jungwon's eyes softens. "I wasn't planning on seeing you, either. But I'm glad it happened. He paused before continuing, his voice quieter now. "I... didn't know if I had the right to approach you after everything I did. Sorry if I was intruding on your guys' hangout."

Sunoo sighs. "Jungwon, I've already told you. I've moved on. We don't need to dwell on the past. I'm good. You're good. We're all good. Okay?"

Jungwon smiled, a smile that felt more genuine than the last one Sunoo remembered. "I'm happy to hear that."