Alone {𝕄𝕀ℕ𝕊𝕌ℕ𝔾}

Chapter Forty-Four

JISUNG MET UP WITH FELIX AND HYUNJIN AT THE FRONT GATES OF THE SCHOOL, THE MORNING FALL air fresh on his face. Winter was approaching, that much was obvious, but it felt oddly nice, despite his knowing that he'd miss the warm summer days.

He was sure that nothing could bring down his mood; he was just so elated. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Minho walk onto school grounds, earphones plugged in, but he didn't seem so sullen anymore; that in itself was refreshing.

The two made eye contact, and smiled discretely to one another as he passed. Jisung turned back to tune in to what Hyunjin was saying. Nothing can ruin this.

~#~#~#~#~#~

He thought wrong. The moment the lunch bell rang, letting him escape his dreadful English class, Jaehyun appeared in front of him. The strawberry blonde flinched away, smiling uneasily at him. "Uh, hey," he mumbled, turning to look down at the ground.

"If you don't mind, I have to pass." He attempted to walk around the elder male, but that's not something Jaehyun would allow. He began to walk beside the younger, keeping up with him. "How are you?" he questioned, and Jisung smiled uneasily at him.

"Good, you?" He was desperate to get out of the conversation; his eyes were rapidly scanning the halls in search of anyone who'd be able to get Jaehyun off his back. He noticed that Jaehyun had looked off to the side, but before long he looked back at Jisung and smirked.

"Amazing, now that I've seen you." Jisung felt his stomach clench, and he looked away, uncomfortable. "So, wanna continue where we left off?" He raised a brow, and the strawberry blonde looked up in shock, mouth drying.

Had he not made it obvious that he wasn't interested? "No," he stated as firmly as he could, but his voice wavered slightly. "What's stopping you?" He froze, mind racing, because did Jaehyun know? He relaxed and forced a shrug.

"Nothing." He walked away, relieved when the other male didn't follow him. Once more, he was oblivious to the smirk present on Jaehyun's face. He let out a calmed sigh, and hitched his backpack strap higher on his shoulder.

He just wanted to crawl back into Minho's arms, just like they had on that hill.

~#~#~#~#~#~

Jeongin closed his locker after placing his books in their rightful place. Just because he was expecting being pushed into the closed locker didn't mean he was any less scared. After he'd stopped hanging around Minho, the bullies had come back.

He'd almost forgotten how it felt to be afraid in every waking moment.

"Have anything interesting for us, loser?" he questioned, and Jeongin shrunk back, shaking his head. "N-No, I don't," he mumbled, casting his eyes towards the ground. He looked up again, eyes meeting Jaehyun's from across the hall as he was slammed into the locker again.

"Well, sucks to be you, then." His eyes were pleading his boyfriend to come over, but Jaehyun looked away, down at a strawberry blonde boy. He felt the betrayal pooling in his stomach, and loathing grow in his heart for the blonde boy.

Why is he more important than me?

The flash and shutter of a camera sounded over them, and the bullies looked up in shock. "Wow, #shameless, #dumbpiecesofshit, #nolifelmao," Jeongin looked up in a confusion, seeing a cherry haired male pointing his phone in their direction, tilting his head slightly.

"Who the hell are you?" the 'leader' of the pack of bullies growled out, and Seungmin narrowed his eyes in a glare, letting his phone slide into his pocket as he took a threatening step forward. "Your worst nightmare, asshole. Why don't you pick on someone your own size, huh?"

The clicking heels of a teacher approaching caused the bullies to back away, glaring at the two before casually walking away as though nothing had ever happened. Seungmin deflated, shaking his head as he exhaled shakily.

Jeongin turned to look at him, his confusion even more apparent. The redhead looked up with a small grin as he chuckled. "If they had decided to jump into a fight, I woulda lost I tell you that."

He bent down and picked up a thick stack of papers, flipping on to the next page of the script where he'd pulled his previous intimidating lines from. And they say acting isn't useful. "Anyways, see ya," he waved lazily and buried his face in the script once more, continuing from where he'd left off.

"W-Wait!" Jeongin called, biting his lip nervously as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "T-Thank you... what's your name?" he mumbled, and the boy gave him a small smile. "Seungmin." With that, he turned around and walked away, quickly disappearing around the corner leading to the art rooms.

The freshman sighed, placing his hands over his rosy cheeks. At least someone had come to his aid. That left a bitter taste in his mouth, as he remembered how Jaehyun had blatantly ignored him when he'd needed him most.

Minho hyung never would have turned his back on me. His eyes welled with tears, and he slid down the wall, bringing his knees up to his chest. He regretted all that he'd done, just because he was desperate for someone to love him. He was left to wonder; did Jaehyun ever really love him in the first place?

A/N: This chapter is kinda shitty I must admit, but I'm planting the seeds for some major iSH *rubs hands together evilly* we're getting close to the endgame, which is the most interesting part *eyebrow wiggle*

Guess who got asked out yesterday, and guess who said no? And I complain that I'm single all the time, oof-- but tbh I regret nothing I'm not gonna go out with someone I have no interest in, because that's just plain wrong sO ig Imma stay single as a pringle -(0.0)-

aHHHHHH THANK YOU FOR 16K!!!!!!!!!!!

Q: Who do you think would be the best writer in SKZ (very interesting question)? (courtesy of OCT0617)

A: Seungmin. Why? No idea. He just strikes me as the type to rather sit with his computer than going out with friends (hence why yours truly has no life my fantasy is to literally have a date with my laptop at the aesthetic bubble tea shop and stay there forever just writing. Imma do that during my next break aCTUALLY I can't wait for March).

Lots of love,

~Junnie