STAY By My Side

Chapter 20: Melt Me Like I'm Ice Cream

Hello guys! I'm so freaking happy to see this story at 1K reads. First of all, I want to thank each and every reader of mine for contributing towards the 1K reads this story reached. I cannot explain how amazing this feels for someone who wrote their first story. I'm just on cloud 9. Thanks again and keep supporting me and my story guys. I'll do my best to entertain you by updating on time.

Let's see where the story is headed, shall we?

Hyunjin's POV

I stopped at the entrance of the room I left 5 minutes ago. My hands were trembling. What if Han hates me now? I wasn't trying to be rude but my feelings overtook my thoughts for a while. I just didn't want to be near him in fear of getting hurt. By his ignorance. By his rejection. By his hate. Everything. "Hyunjin? Why are you standing here?" I looked at a puzzled Han. Great. Guess I can't turn back and run away anymore. "Just waiting for Jeongin. He went to the bathroom," I said it all in one breath. He just nodded and leaned against the wall besides me.

"Actuallyicametoapologizeforbeingrudewithyouinthestudio" I spit it out with closed eyes. I waited patiently for 2 minutes. There was nothing. I opened my eyes and Han was looking at me like I'm a ghost. "What?" I asked and he said, "Didn't catch anything you said. Can you take a deep breath and repeat it slowly?" His clear cut instructions made me a little more nervous, but I figured it would be good to clear it once and for all. "I said that I came here to apologize to you for being rude with you in the studio," I managed to say it without stuttering. "That's fine Hyunjin. You are probably just tired. I understand," he said giving me a small smile which melted my heart a little. I mirrored a smile back and we stood there in comfortable silence.

Seungmin's POV

"I'm gonna help them both even if it means I have to sacrifice my love," I heard a voice from one of the bathroom stalls. When I approached the occupied stall, I could hear some sniffles. But his sniffles seem familiar. Do I know this person? I snapped out of my thoughts when the door to the stall flew open. To say I was shocked on seeing Jeongin would be an understatement. "Jeongin? You... were crying?" I asked now concerned. "Ani hyung. Why would I be crying? Just not feeling well," he said to cover it up. "No. You were clearly crying. I heard you say something about sacrificing love and helping someone. What's that about?" I brought him towards the sink. Even though he denied everything at first, he couldn't hold it in any longer. And he broke down. I hugged him and tried to comfort him without saying anything. I knew that he needs an embrace more than some words right now.

After calming down a little, he told me everything. "Let me get this straight. You like Hyunjin but he and Han like each other so you are trying to sacrifice for their happiness," I looked at him with full of love. "Why are you like this Jeongin? You are a kid - you are supposed to be happy, jump around in joy, annoy us, and fight for what's yours. But you are sacrificing for our happiness? Why are you so selfless?" I asked pulling him into a tight embrace. "Hyung, whatever you said is right. And I will do all that. Not in this matter hyung. It's about 3 lives and I can't disturb 2 lives for the sake of my 1 life. It's not fair for the other 2. It's not the end of the world hyung. I'm sure it's just the hormones." He tried to laugh it off like he wasn't pouring his guts out a minute ago. I started admiring this now-grown-kid even more right that instant. I took him to the dorm. That night, we hugged each other to sleep. And I had a peaceful sleep after a very long time.

Hyunjin's POV

It was 1:06 a.m. and there I was under the covers, scrolling through old pics on my phone - thinking of all the memories and how distant we grew. I don't know why I couldn't stop thinking about Han. He was like a boomerang in my head. I wanted to fix everything but I was too scared that I'd mess up again, or that I might break down. Just as I was immersed in my thoughts, I heard the door creak and peeked out from under the blanket to check. I got scared and turned on the lights. The lights were so bright, they were blinding me. My eyes hadn't fully adjusted to the light yet, but I could see a shadow walking towards me.

I was scared at first thinking who could be walking around the dorm at 1 in the morning. "You've been watching too many scary movies lately," Han said as my eyes finally adjusted to the brightness of the light. "Han? What are you doing here at this hour?" I asked confused. "I couldn't sleep. I suppose you can't either," he said already knowing about my insomnia. "Yeah..." I replied dully. "I wanna get ice cream!" he blurted. "What?...I mean...now?" I said surprised at his sudden craving. "Yup...you coming?" He asked me. "No, I'm not in the mood for icecream." I said going back under my blanket. "That wasn't a question," he said throwing a hoodie at my face and luckily I caught it. "Make it quick," he said leaving me no choice but to get out of bed. When did he start bossing me around? As strange as it might be, I like that he was showing his authority over me. Hopefully, he will open up to me soon.

Han's POV

I kept looking behind me while we were walking over to the convenience store, just to make sure Hyunjin was there. I didn't want to be ditched. I think he noticed it too. "You don't have to look back again and again, I'm not gonna run away from you," Hyunjin said picking up his pace so that he could come walk besides me. "So... you agree you have been running away from me?" I digged deeper. "I wasn't running away from anyone," he said nonchalantly and I decided to drop the matter there.

"So... what kept you up so late?" I asked him in order to avoid the awkward silence. "Hmm...nothing in particular, just couldn't get myself to sleep," he responded and asked back "You?" "Same," I replied. The rest of the walk was pretty silent. Neither of us knew what to say. The convenience store was not far from the dorm. It felt nice to take a walk in the pleasant breeze with Hyunjin by my side.

We reached the store in a few minutes. "What flavour do you want?" he asked. "Strawberry!" I said and he let out a chuckle at how much of a kid I was. He took a chocolate ice cream and asked me if I was ready to go. "No...why don't we sit on a bench in the park for a while, it is very pleasant outside and the stars are so pretty." I replied. He said "sure, why not?" Once we got to the park and sat down, I took out my ice cream and ate it slowly just so that I could sit out here under the stars. For some reason, having him here besides me made it a lot nicer.

"Hey you wanna try this, it's...ah...you're so clumsy. You can't even eat ice cream without getting it all over your face," he said. "Wait... seriously? Where?" I asked him so that I could wipe it off. "Come here, I'll do it for you," he said gently turning my head towards his. He started brushing off the ice cream from the crease of my lip. His soft fingers felt so good on my lips. He made me want to get more ice cream on myself just so that I could feel his soft fingertips against my skin. It made me think of how much of a gentleman he was.

I snapped myself out of my thoughts and realised that we both were just sitting there, frozen. I couldn't take my eyes off of his lips. Before I could even realise, I was slowly moving closer towards him. I closed my eyes and moved closer and closer. "The ice cream's gonna melt," he said making me realise what I was doing. I slowly opened my eyes and tried to act natural, but I don't think it looked natural at all. I don't know what's gotten into me! What am I even thinking or doing or feeling? I really don't know anymore.

Okay so I thought why not do a Hyunsung special chapter since their story also needs to progress, haha. I'm such a bad author for making my baby Jeongin cry so much in this chapter but I have to do what helps the story 😢. I'm sorry for not giving you some Minchan but I swear next chapter will be a bit more Minchan. However, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Do you guys think Hyunjin is running away from someone or something? And what's Han feeling? Let me know in the comments.