Soonyoung did something he’s never done before. After seeing the scene he just did, after having to hear Jihoon’s words, Soonyoung bolted for the doors and never went back to school for the day. Who cares about classes, he was already doing okay in all of them, school was nearing summer vacation.

Knowing he couldn’t go home, to face his mom, Soonyoung went to the neighborhood playground. There wouldn’t be too many people around on a early afternoon.

Climbing one of the small towers, Soonyoung laid on the very top level, curling up into a ball. He didn’t want to have to deal with everything going on around him. It was a safe enough neighborhood for Soonyoung to take a small nap and run away to another land for a while. Closing his eyes against the shining sun, Soonyoung pushed all his troubles away.

“Kwon Soonyoung!”

A voice jolted Soonyoung awake. Opening up his eyes, he looked around at his surrounding in confusion. Why was he sleeping out in the open and not in his bed? Slowly moving into a sitting position, Soonyoung wiped his eyes clear.

“What’s going on?” he asked himself. His elbows were propped up by his knee and his head was held by his hands.

A sigh comes from behind him, “I would like to know that myself too.”

Bringing his head up, Soonyoung turns to see who had joined him.

Jun was sitting behind him, cross-legged, watching Soonyoung, shaking his head. “You don’t even think to text me where you are or if you’re alive or not?”

“Jun? What time is it?” Soonyoung frowned.

“School let out for the day. When I couldn’t find you I had Minghao help me try to find you, and by the way I did text him to go home already. See how I care about my friends? I don’t leave them wondering about my well-being,” Jun ranted to Soonyoung.

Covering his face, Soonyoung groaned at how upset Jun was. He’s never seen his friend like this. What made it worse was that Jun was right, if he wasn’t so stuck in his own issues, he would have, and should have, texted Jun.

“I’m sorry,” Soonyoung got out.

“Never mind that,” Jun said, scooting closer to Soonyoung now, “What happened to you to make all of this happened? You never skip out on school half way through.”

“Auugh,” Soonyoung grogged out at the memory, “Jihoon wanted to show me something.”

“Should we tell the teachers about him?” Jun cut in, “I mean, I’ve been thinking about it recently. He’s a pain to deal with, and at least if the teachers know, Jihoon won’t be so prone to bothering you anymore.”

Shaking his head, Soonyoung sighed, “It wasn’t just because of Jihoon, and anyways I’m sure teachers wouldn’t be able to stop him. He’s too determined to do whatever he wants. Jihoon showed me what Wonwoo had been busy with. I know why he hasn’t been texting me back.”

Jun leaned in and looked on with curiosity, “Well, don’t keep me waiting. Tell me what he’s been busy with. I want to know what’s going on.”

“Wonwoo was kissing Mingyu. They were alone in an unused classroom. Wonwoo had Mingyu against the chalkboard. They were kissing.”

Seeing how red in the face Soonyoung was, Jun reached out to comfort his friend. And now that Soonyoung was alone with his friend, he let out the tears he had been trying to keep in. As tears trickled down Soonyoung’s cheeks, he tried to keep his hiccups down. Letting the pain wash over him, Soonyoung tried his hardest to get over his one year crush.

“Are you sure?” Jun asked.

“Just think about it Jun,” Soonyoung said, “He wanted just the one date. He barely contacted me after, I was the one always texting him first. I could already tell where it was heading. I just didn’t know Mingyu was involved. And it was Wonwoo who was leading that kiss, he had Mingyu in his hold.”

“He’s such a jerk,” Jun said with a scowl.

“Why did I have to end up liking someone like him?” Soonyoung cried out.

“That’s it,” Jun shouted, “I don’t care if it is a Monday. We’re going to call Minghao up and we’re going to go drinking. We’re not going home till you’re drunk and done screaming at Wonwoo and Mingyu.”

Soonyoung didn’t have the energy to stop Jun. So they called Minghao, got off the tower, and went to drink their problems away. True to Jun’s words, only after Soonyoung was done screaming out his pain in drunken agony did Jun and Minghao take him home.

“I hate you,” Soonyoung groaned to his best friend. It was Tuesday, and Soonyoung was nursing a hangover and a headache. Everything hurt too much for him to stomach anything. He was sitting at lunch with Jun and Minghao, trying to drink some water.

“At least have some of your food, Hyung,” Minghao said to him, “Your hangover isn’t going to get any better if you don’t.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Soonyoung snapped.

Jun sighed, “Stop acting like a child. Also, say sorry.”

“Sorry, Minghao. I didn’t mean it. I’m just not in a good mood right now.”

Shaking his head, Minghao smiled, “It’s okay Hyung, I understand.”

“What are your plans now, now that you basically have to give up on Wonwoo,” Jun asked.

Soonyoung glanced around the room and didn’t see anyone to worry about, “Avoid people like crazy. Finish this school year with the talent show. Work hard during the summer. And avoid people like crazy again next year.”

“That sounds great and all,” Jun started, “but we all know that’s only false hope. You have someone who follows you around. You have us, your friends, who want the best for you.”

Tilting his head, Soonyoung pouted, “If you guys want the best for me, help me get rid of Jihoon.”

Taking a moment to think, Soonyoung gasped as he had come up with an idea, “I know. Let’s pretend I’m going out with you, Jun. Once he sees how deep our connection is he’ll have no choice but to leave.”

Jun rolled his eyes, “That’s not an option. You had Wonwoo in your life, and Jihoon was still around. Plus, I can’t pretend to be your boyfriend when I already have someone I like.”

“But Jihoon backed off for a while when he found out about Wonwoo,” Soonyoung whined.

“That’s not what I know of,” Minghao interjected.

“What did you know?” Jun asked, blinking in curiousity.

“Just the usual thing Jihoon always tells us,” Minghao shrugs, “One of these days Soonyoung would see how perfect they would be for each other. And also how Wonwoo probably doesn’t even like Soonyoung the way Jihoon does. It’s all he ever talks about when we’re not talking about music, art, or dancing.”

“He has it pretty bad,” Jun said, shaking his head.

Soonyoung couldn’t help but wonder why Jihoon even thought about him, especially when he had someone like Seungcheol around him. It was pretty evident Seungcheol thought the world of Jihoon.

A few days had passed and Soonyoung was doing a pretty good job of avoiding Wonwoo. He was pretty easy to ignore. Not responding to any surprising texts, running the other way when he saw Wonwoo in hallways, finishing his lunch as soon as possible to go hide in the library or in his next class.

It was Jihoon Soonyoung had troubles avoiding. No matter where he went, Jihoon had some way of finding him. And Jihoon didn’t even want to talk to him most of the time, he was content to just sit near Soonyoung. Which still annoyed Soonyoung to no end, but at least he didn’t have to waste time and effort to tell the boy to not bother him.

It was Friday, and Soonyoung was leaving the school’s ground with Jun and Minghao. They were leaving with the intent to practice for the upcoming talent show.

The group didn’t make it far when Soonyoung heard his name being call.

“Soonyoung!”

Soonyoung recognized the voice and closed his eyes with a grimace. He didn’t want to have to deal with this right now. He’s been doing so well at avoiding it, he didn’t want to think of eventually having to talk to him.

“Soonyoung, please don’t run away,” Wonwoo called out, his voice getting closer.

Opening his eyes, Soonyoung turns to his friends, unsure of what to do.

“I’m not going anywhere, Soonyoung, no matter what you say,” Jun tells him.

Minghao nods along, “I’m staying too.”

“Thanks,” Soonyoung whispers as he prepares himself to face Wonwoo.

Turning around, Soonyoung sees Wonwoo walking towards them.

“Hey,” Wonwoo said as he got closer, “It’s been awhile since we’ve talked. I’ve been trying to text you too. What’s going on?”

“You tell me, Wonwoo,” Soonyoung calmly asked, “Why did you want to go out with me in the first place?”

Wonwoo smiled, trying to lighten up the mood, “You asked, so of course I said yes. You seemed like a nice guy to get to know.”

“So you had no motivations behind it?” Soonyoung continued to ask, wanting to hear it from Wonwoo.

“What motivations? Come on, Soonyoung, I would never go out with someone with evil intent.”

“I saw you with Mingyu though,” Soonyoung finally sputtered out.

“Mingyu? He’s my friend, of course I’m around him,” Wonwoo said as his smile faltered.

Soonyoung shook his head, “Friends don’t kiss each other the way I saw you guys kissing on Monday.”

Now Wonwoo wasn’t smiling anymore. He paled at Soonyoung’s words. “Soonyoung. I can explain. You weren’t supposed to hear about it this way.”

“I wasn’t supposed to know? So you were just going to two time us. Only, I’m sure Mingyu is in on it too, considering he knew we were on a date last Friday.”

“You have to understand,” Wonwoo pleaded, “I’ve been in love with Mingyu for such a long time, and he wouldn’t even look my way till you showed up.”

“Were you at all serious about me then? You can’t just ignore all those feelings and turn to someone new,” Soonyoung questioned.

Wonwoo sighed, “I wanted to be serious. I really did. I thought it was time to give up, especially since Mingyu wasn’t giving me the time of day. Bu-but the relationship you and I had sparked something in him. He’s finally opened up to the idea of him and I being together. I couldn’t give that up.”

“I hate you,” Soonyoung said calmly, “I had a crush on you for a year, I wasted a year liking you, I lost precious time thinking about you for over a year. And I hate you even more for breaking my heart. So go and be with Mingyu, but don’t ever do something that low ever again.”

“I’m sorry, Soonyoung,” Wonwoo said dejectedly, “I don’t know what I can do to ever make you forgive me. I never wanted this to happen.”

“Just leave us alone,” Soonyoung said, turning to leave.

To stop thinking about Wonwoo, Soonyoung immersed himself in dancing and music. When he wasn’t dancing, he was listening to music. And by music, it meant Woozi.

Soonyoung was laying in bed, once again going through Woozi’s videos, enjoying the voice of the singer. It had been a while since he let himself watch all of Woozi’s videos, and after dealing with a week like he did, he needed the comfort of Woozi’s voice.

Accidently hitting Youtube’s home button, Soonyoung sees a new video from Woozi. His heartbeat fastens with excitement. This is exactly what he’s been needing. A new video from his favorite youtuber.

Clicking on the video, Soonyoung sits in anticipation of what he was going to hear. The first thing he noticed was the clean white mask Woozi wore. Nothing was painted on it this time around.

As with every new video Woozi put out, Soonyoung watched with awe. He could only hope to someday make this this much contribution to the world of music and arts.

While he laid there in his bedroom, Soonyoung listened to the sadness in Woozi’s voice. He didn’t even notice it, but tears found their way from Soonyoung’s eyes and flowed to the side of his face.

Everything Woozi was singing about, if only happiness was simple.