buy me your love (no returns)

chapter 18 ☆

after a 5 minute walk in complete silence, they both arrived in a practically deserted part of the park. jihoon took this as his time to let go of jinyoung's wrist, mumbling a small 'sorry' to the other boy.

"wh..." jinyoung finally stuttered out, "why?"

"you've been avoiding me," the elder responded, letting go of jinyoung's wrist to run a hand through his hair, "and, shit.. i've been so worried about you jinyoung!" he got a guilty look in response as jinyoung bowed his head slightly.

"i'm sorry hyung," he finally got out, "i just didn't want you to see me like this..." it was at this moment jihoon felt his own heart shatter; jinyoung sounded so lost, so vulnerable. truly, whilst they were on speaking terms, he'd never seen the younger boy's face not lit up with a bright grin. he understood what jinyoung meant with not wanting to him to have to see him so gloomy, especially since he'd never dealt with it before.

still though.

"i would've been there for you though," jihoon spoke softly, taking ahold of jinyoung's hands, "i still want to help you."

jinyoung seemed shocked by this, troubled look getting worse.

"you don't have to do that hyung," came the quiet reply, "i don't want you to see me this sad all the time..."

oh, nuh-uh. jihoon wasn't having any of this. he thought about what the younger boy had said for a brief moment before speaking up again, confidence back this time.

"you won't feel sad forever jinyoung," he sighed, watching the other boy's gaze drop again, "hey, look at me." jinyoung obliged, hesitantly looking jihoon in the eyes.

remember what he said earlier about his heart breaking? yeah, ignore that. that only cracked at his heart just a tad. this was when his heart began to fall apart. when jinyoung had finally met his eyes, jihoon had realised - jinyoung was about to cry.

"i promise you that you will get over that girl," his voice softened again as he squeezed jinyoung's hands in reassurance, "i'll be here to help you whenever, alright? no matter how sad and lonely you may feel." in any other case, he would've cringed at his own words (he sounded cheesier than daniel now, christ) but something seemed different this time. jihoon believed his own words, and he could only pray that jinyoung did too.

in a matter of seconds, jinyoung's arms were around jihoon without warning; he was being pulled into a hug. whilst he couldn't tell if the younger boy was shedding tears, he didn't miss the small tremor in his voice as he repeated an abundances of apologies to him.

"thanks hyung," he smiled against jihoon's shoulder, tears seeming to have gone, "i'm so lucky to have a friend like you."

they stayed like that for a little longer before they both walked through the park together, as they used to. throughout the stroll together, jihoon could feel his heart thumping loudly in his chest, frantically trying to alert him of its broken state. it'd felt like that earlier when he'd seen jinyoung's tear-filled eyed, but the younger looked somewhat happier now that they'd spoken. stupid sad side effects, he mentally cursed himself.

though, jihoon swore that he could feel his heart crack a bit more when jinyoung called him his 'friend.'

as if it had been the thing to break it completely.

...as if, right?