Countdown | UNB JUNCHAN

Chapter 6

If it were not for the continuous noise he could hear from the side rooms in the hallway they were walking in, Jun was convinced that his own heartbeat would be audible enough for anyone to hear as long as they were walking by his side.

Gwangsuk, who was a couple of steps ahead of him, kept walking in search for a quiet place where they could have their long-awaited talk , or at least that was what Jun supposed he was doing. After a while, the older stopped for a few seconds in a coffee machine and turned around to ask Jun if he wanted something.

The younger man, caught by surprise, decided to reject the drink. Gwangsuk, on the other hand, bought himself one. Jun thought for a moment that the other boy didn't seem to be agitated at all... but when he got his coffee and didn't wait a single second to take a sip, burning his tongue in the process... Jun guessed that Gwangsuk was more nervous than he looked like...

In the end, Gwangsuk led him to an empty room full of tables. The older boy opened the door and turned on the lights, looking around and telling him to take a sit wherever he wanted.

"It's the cafeteria of this academy. It's closed at this hour on Fridays," he explained before Jun could say anything.

"And we can be here just like that?" He asked, somewhat confused.

"Teachers can, Euijin hyung lent me the keys," Gwangsuk said while he left them on a table. "I'm V.I.P here, you know," he said, quite proud of himself.

"Yeah... he told me you're dancing again and that you're now helping him with his classes," Jun commented as he sat at one of the tables.

"That's right, I'm helping him. Our dancing styles are kind of different... and at first I was a little rusty, but I'm having fun," he said, sitting in front of Jun and placing the coffee in the middle of the table.

"I'm glad..."

A small silence took over the room. Jun looked through the window for a moment, aware that Gwangsuk didn't bring him there to have a casual chat about what had they done those last few months they didn't talk to each other. But even so, it felt so good to talk about it and just ignore... everything else.

"I guess you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you..." Gwangsuk said after taking a distracted sip of his coffee once again.

Jun nodded.

"I've been..." The young man started, hesitating at first. "Thinking about stuff for a long time and... well, you have probably realized what is happening right now with everyone too."

Jun looked at his hyung for a moment. He placed his hands on the table and began to play with his own fingers, rather doubtful.

"Are you referring to the fact that the group is becoming distant?"

"Yes, more or less. I guess everyone has noticed by now," the older started to adjust his cap a little and, in the end, he took it off. "I feel bad over it because... I think it's my fault."

"No."

Jun replied almost instantly. He wasn't going to let Gwangsuk blame himself for something that had been the natural course of events for what Jun had done wrong since the very beginning.

"If someone is at fault, that's me. I know that without you... everyone ends up going by their own... but the reason you weren't in the mood to keep everyone together was my own doing... well, ours."

Gwangsuk's eyes gleamed for an instant, understanding that reference to Chan, even though Jun didn't mention him directly.

"Yeah... I guess that, in a way, you're right," Gwangsuk took a breath and smiled in spite of himself. "Which brings me to the real reason I wanted to talk."