Tangled Red String [Hyunsung] ✓

Chapter 25

A/n republish; nothing major, just added new parts on Hyunlix's moment

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July 2021

Hyunjin let out a sigh as soon as he woke up. "Another day of missing Jisung". He thought.

It was summer break now; one year and a couple of months since the last time he talked with Jisung, yet he still felt the familiar sheer pain every time he remembered him.

The first two months were disaster. He still attended his classes and did his assignments, but he lived his life like a robot; the only time where he looked like a human was ironically when he cried.

He oftentimes forgot to eat as well. If Eric did not constantly remind him to eat, he might bury himself with books inside his room all day long for the sake of distracting his mind from thinking about the younger. Sunwoo would also barged into his room only to throw some pack of extract juice then left immediately afterward as if nothing happened. To say he was glad for having such caring dorm mates was absolutely an understatement.

Then during the college break, he would spend his time with Seungmin. The trio--Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin--also went to have a trip together twice. The oldest among them even learned to drive so they could explore new places together whenever they wanted to. And even when they were separated by distance, they still met with each other at weekend when they had time.

Not only that, he made up with Chan too. In fact, Hyunjin would rant about Jisung to the older and Chan would keenly listened. The older even introduced him to Minho, his current lover. They were being awkward at first, but it all disappeared as soon as they talked about their hobby as well as passion; dancing.

Last year, he also left the dance academy he used to attend and looked for a new one; somewhere near his house and far enough from the possibility of meeting Jisung accidentally. He was sad to leave the place since he has made some new friends there, but thankfully they still stayed in touch even until now and would meet every once in a while, just like today.

They spent nearly two hours to hangout in a café near his college before moving to an arcade at 8 PM. While the other were singing inside a karaoke booth or playing some arcade games, Hyunjin chose to play claw machine.

Some middle schoolers even "nicely" accompanied him only to laugh at him since he kept failing to get the price. Honestly speaking, it irritated him--both the machine and the students--but he would not give up until he finally got the squirrel plushie.

After trying for the nth time, he finally got the price. He let out a satisfied sigh as he took the soft plushie from the little box, smiling unknowingly as it reminded him of his crush, then put the it inside his bag carefully.

"Got that for your girlfriend?" One of his friends asked, earning a small no from him. "Let's get going then! Jun hyung said he'll treat us some drink."

When Dino said they would get some treats, he did not think that they would go to a club. He knew he was an adult and was allowed to be in the said place. But it was actually his first time and to say he was shocked was an understatement.

"My mom is gonna kill me." He thought then proceeded to send a quick text to Chan, asking him to cover him up in case his mother called the older.

Being a good boy, Hyunjin did not order any of alcoholic beverages, let alone drink them. He thought everything in the club was not enjoyable at all, but at least the DJ had a good taste in music.

Still having a habit to observe, he moved his eyes from one point to another until his eyes finally stopped wandering around, staring at a particular direction for one minute straight.