Taekwoon could not concentrate in his class. Not after how hurtful he was with Jaehwan. The guy always had a cheerful face with a smile that could brighten up anybody’s day but after their small conversation, Jaehwan had become expressionless. His eyes were filled with tears that, in any second he blinked, it would run down like a river.

Taekwoon felt very guilty and it also pained him to see Jaehwan like that. Taekwoon, though he was very distant and aloof with people, he never liked disappointing them. If he managed to make a friend, he would want to keep them as happy as he can. He was a very lovely person deep inside but his looks made him look otherwise.

Tapping his fingers on the table, Taekwoon looked outside from his class window and thought about how to tell Hongbin the same thing he had told Jaehwan. He was too scared to even face the man and to say something like that to him, face to face, Taekwoon was sure Hongbin would eat him up. But he didn’t have a choice, he had to do it for Wonsik. Even if Hongbin already knew about his relationship with Wonsik, he still needed to tell him that he was Wonsik’s and he cannot be with anyone else.

After the class, Taekwoon decided he will go to Hongbin’s college. When he got there, everybody looked at him with strange eyes. Everyone was wearing their sports clothing and Taekwoon was the only one wearing the uniform. Ignoring the stares, he quickly made his way to the basketball court to see if he could find Hongbin.

He did see students practicing but he could not find the man.

Taekwoon sighed. On the way back, he saw Hongbin coming from afar but he was not alone. He was with some of his teammates and by the look on his face, he did not look very happy. Taekwoon went to the side and hid himself.

“Sorry, Cap! We didn’t—“

“SHUT UP!”, Hongbin yelled. Taekwoon flinched behind the tree.

The three boys quickly lowered their heads and followed the captain. Taekwoon could tell those boys were freshmen since they looked really young.

“Listen”, Hongbin turned around. Taekwoon peeked from behind the tree to see what was happening. “If this ever happen again, I will kick all three of you out of the team! You hear me!”, The boys flinched. They still could not face the man who was boiling with anger. They only nodded.

“You all are disgrace to the team and the college!”, Hongbin shouted again. “This is my last warning and don’t you dare test my patience!”

“But they started it—“

“Get out of my sight!”, His voice was very scary. Never had Taekwoon seen Hongbin like that. “Now go back and practice and the three of you will not leave until I say so!”.

The three nodded again and ran towards their college.

“Those brats! Because of them, coach got angry at me!”, Hongbin complained. He slowly started to walk towards his college when he saw a figure behind a tree. He thought it was just some students, so he ignored it.

Taekwoon sighed when he saw Hongbin disappear in the distance.

‘Thank god! He didn’t see me’, Taekwoon thought. Even if Hongbin wasn’t yelling at him, he was also scared as the three poor boys. ‘I don’t think I can talk to him today, not when he is like that.’

Taekwoon gave up and went straight home. He would always come home to Wonsik watching tv or sleeping but today was different. He wasn’t there. Taekwoon felt a little weird because he was always the one who always got home late.

‘Wonsik must be very busy with assignments’, he thought and like always, he went to the kitchen, cooked something for himself and Wonsik and went to the living room to watch tv.

This semester, especially, Taekwoon had noticed that he and Wonsik hasn’t spent so much time together. What Wonsik had told him always lingered in his head but he could also say the same thing. ‘Wonsik, You are drifting away from me too.’

Taekwoon had fallen asleep yet again when Wonsik entered the house. It was 7pm but Wonsik had no intention of waking up the older man. He went straight to the bedroom and changed his clothes. He came back out quickly. Somehow, Wonsik was in a hurry but he felt a little bad for Taekwoon. Wonsik still had the same expression from last night and he looked more and more worried but for some reason, he did not want Taekwoon to know about it.

Moving towards the still body, Wonsik brushed back the lock of hair in front of Taekwoons face and placed a soft kiss on his forehead before leaving the place.

It was already past midnight when Taekwoon woke up. He quickly stood up and went to check if Wonsik had come or not but he could not find him. He quickly called him but he wasn’t picking up. Taekwoon worried. He tried calling again and again but there was no reply. He had also sent him many texts. He wanted to ask one of Wonsik’s friends but the only number he had of was Hongbin’s and he was in no condition to talk to the scary captain. He wished he had Hyuks number.

At last, Taekwoon didn’t have a choice but to text Hongbin. It took him a while to tap the ‘SEND’ button but when he finally did, he threw his phone away from him, waiting for it to vibrate.

5 mins past and Taekwoon still had his eyes on his phone, it was never vibrating. Taekwoon went to check if the text he had sent had been delivered or not and as soon as he got the phone, it finally vibrated. It was as if Hongbin was waiting for Taekwoon to get the phone.

Instead of texting, Hongbin was calling him. He let it ring for a while before he answering it.

“Why are you sending me text messages? Isn’t it easy to call and ask?”, Taekwoon heard from the other line.

“Hongbin, ha—have you seen Wonsik today?”

“If you are going to ask me about Wonsik, I am going to hang up. I don’t want to waste my time talking about your boyfriend.”, Taekwoon could sense the seriousness in his voice.

“But—wait! Please, have you seen him? He is not home and I am very worried. He is not picking up his phone too!”, Taekwoon had never felt like this. He was always the one coming home late so this was the first time Wonsik hadn’t come home.  

Taekwoon heard Hongbin sighing.

“He is here. The three of us went drinking. He and Hyuk are already asleep.” Taekwoon exhaled very loudly, he was relieved that Wonsik was with his friends. Taekwoon was imagining all sorts of situations, like Wonsik getting involved in fights, accidents, etc. He was like a mother right now, worrying for her child.

“You can come to my place and get him if you want.”, Hongbin said.

Taekwoon couldn’t. “It’s ok. I trust you and Hyuk. I am sure Wonsik must be tired so let him be there.”

“hmmmm. You trust me?”, Taekwoon heard Hongbins tone changing in a teasing manner. “Are you feeling lonely without him? Do you want me to come over since you are alone there?”

Taekwoon blushed. “Shut up! I am hanging up!”

He heard Hongbin laughing. “Sure love and next time, if you ever text or call me to ask about Wonsik, I will kill you!”, Taekwoon gulped. “You know how much I love you and you still have the guts to ask me about Wonsik—“

Taekwoon quickly hung up without letting him finish his sentence. He was too flushed. He calmed himself and started to work on his paper for the Language class.

Hongbin looked at his phone blankly as the call screen went back to home screen after Taekwoon had hung up. “Tsk”

Hongbin shuffled through his camera roll and tapped on one of the pictures. It was a picture of Taekwoon’s sleeping face. Hongbin had taken it when he had laid the man on his bed after bringing him home from the bar.

“Don’t make me jealous than I already am, Taekwoon.” He said at the picture.

Sighing again, he went through his phone, but this time he was calling someone.

The phone rang for a while and the person finally picked up.

“Where are you, Wonsik?”

“I am at home. Why?”, Hongbin furrowed his eyes. ‘Home?’ He knew something was up.

“You haven’t been coming for practice. I need you to come tomorrow or else you are out of the team.”, Hongbin told him and he heard the man sighing. It was an excuse he had just come up with. All Hongbin wanted to know was where Wonsik was right now.

“Ok, I will. I will be there tomorrow!”, Wonsik replied. “Good night, Captain”.

As he turned off his phone, Hongbin could not help but wonder why Wonsik was lying.

‘What is he doing to Taekwoon?’

‘Did something happen between the two?’