Querencia

querencia: spanish; (n.) a place where which one's strength is drawn, where one feels at home

The crowd gasped in disbelief as the countdown and drum roll started dramatically; some of the students started gossiping with each other about who will win and lose all the same.

“Hey, do you think Jihoon will win again?”

“Hm...Depends, he’s with that delinquent, I highly doubt that he was cooperative.”

“Really? How about the dating rumors about them?”

“It’s called rumors for a reason, Felicia.”

“But I saw them the other day –“

“We always see Seungcheol with men and women, so what’s the surprise?”

“But –“

“Shut up, Felicia.”

Seungcheol cleared his throat to make them shut their mouths, growling in a way to make them turn their heads around in frightened attention. He squinted his eyes to mock them and made a heart sign pointing at Jihoon while mouthing mine. However, Jihoon was just staring at the stage, gulping down and not hearing a single word.

“The Champions are...!”

The emcees screamed words of encouragement in the microphone which gained each and everyone’s gazes to turn. Sometimes, even if the students won’t admit, they do anticipate the announcement of winners no matter how boring and tasteless the awarding may be. Maybe they want to witness a huge change or maybe it’ll just be consistent.

Meanwhile, Seungcheol was as nervous as Jihoon, mumbling curses under his breath, “, I hate this ing suspense.” The winner, who’s the winner? Is it my Jihoon? Is it? Please let it be him!

“Kwon Soonyoung and Shin Maki!”

Silence.

Until a few what’s and why’s echoed from the crowd; some of them clearly didn’t expect that. And it was awkward, it was so awkward for everyone. Especially for Soonyoung who received questioning looks; people started to gawk at him for an answer. But he didn’t have it because he didn’t expect that either, to him of all people, he already accepted defeat long before he actually waited himself to win. This was a first.

Jihoon rolled his eyes, until he let them shine in delight, as he screamed amid of the silence, “Go Soonyoung! I believe in you!” Go best friend, that’s my best friend!

Why is everyone’s surprised at the results? Soonyoung deserved it. Jihoon knew all along that his best friend desired to win, with great efforts but with low expectations. Even behind that bright exterior of Soonyoung, Jihoon saw how hardworking he was. How passionate he was for everything he’s good at. Late at night, he would always study and would sometimes text Jihoon if there are anything he’s struggling with. So, therefore, Jihoon repeats, Soonyoung deserved it. Because even if Jihoon knew that other side of Soonyoung, he is still the generous man he used to know.

Everyone gaped their mouths at Jihoon until they joined him in his claps, cheers, and hoots. Seungcheol widened his eyes in surprise, not because of the result but because of Jihoon’s sudden noise. “Hey, I’m getting jealous! You never say, Go Seungcheol!”

Jihoon turned his head around and extended his grin into a honey-like one, tugging Seungcheol’s suit along with him. “We should congratulate Soonyoung, let’s go!”

Seungcheol chuckled at how childish and flimsy Jihoon’s movements are as they moved through the crowd in hopes of finding the squinty-eyed man. Jihoon easily found him standing near the stage, in an utter state of shock and disbelief. Jihoon wanted to greet him first but Seungcheol suddenly pushed him and interfered, patting Soonyoung’s back proudly. “You ing won, you sneaky !”

Soonyoung stammered, shaking his head a bit, “Sh...it. I-I didn’t expect it at all, man!”

They chest-bumped as Seungcheol took him into what men chose to call a bro-hug, “Soon, I’m so proud of you!” And that’s when Jihoon knew that he wasn’t the only one aware that Soonyoung also wanted success.

Soonyoung couldn’t help but sob loudly while quietly chanting his momma as he rejoiced, “Thank you, man!”

Jihoon lovingly stared at them and teased, “Wow, what cute best friends. I ship.”

The supposed-to-be rivals turned their attentions to Jihoon and their expressions changed into a more challenging one. They both glowered and started hitting each other to prove that they are not best friends or ship material.

“The 1st runner-ups are Lee Jihoon and Choi Seungcheol!”

“Oh, how about that?” Soonyoung enthusiastically screamed while whistling wildly, pointing to the both of them.

After the declaration of winners, they all went backstage, all awaiting to be mentioned to come out in the front. Soonyoung hung an arm around Jihoon and Seungcheol along with his partner, Maki, pulling them close. Soonyoung says, “We’re all winners here.”

The clumsy emcees say in the background, “Ms. Lee, back to you!”

“Alright, alright! I can feel the hype! Oooh,” Ms. Lee lilted as she swiftly managed to dance her way to the front of the stage.

Jihoon cringed horribly.

Ms. Lee started, “We all know the tradition. Senior winners will give their answers to our questions. Starting from the 2nd runner-ups to the Champs.” Jihoon rolled his eyes; this is the segment he hates the most about being a Senior, answering the questions on stage as if they’s competing in a beauty pageant.

The 2nd runner-ups gave their answers to the random questions thrown at them, mostly just Ms. Lee joking around with the winners because she gets away with literally everything on this campus. Until it was Jihoon’s turn. He wasn’t aware as he was completely lost in a deep trance, thinking about his life at the wrong time as usual. He woke up when he felt two different large hands shoving him from behind onto the center of the stage. Without warning, Seokmin threw him a microphone.

Ms. Lee smirked mischievously, which made Jihoon catch on in whatever she had planned. He’s preparing for the worst. “So, Ji, we noticed that you really, really, really had a great chemistry with your partner, Choi, when everyone thought you would drop him off easily. Is there any reason for that?” The crowd oohed and hollered.

Jihoon momentarily sent her daggers before breathing out nervously, eyeing the crowd who was expectant of his answer. Ah, the pressure. “S-Seungcheol and I are polar opposites, everyone knows, right? At first, I thought of him as stupid but along the way, he proved me wrong. We motivated each other to become better as individuals but still remain amazing as a team.”

Ms. Lee giggled offhandedly then cleared when she noticed herself. “W-Woah, Jihoon! Sounds like an almost-confession, don’t you think?” She winked and trailed off, “Now, let’s call on this bad-boy turned good-boy partner, Choi Seungcheol!”

Seungcheol snatched the mic away from Jihoon as soon as he started getting closer and stole a kiss without letting others see. He confidently walked up to the middle, leaving Jihoon dumbfounded at the sudden kiss. “Hello, my lovelies!” The crowd greeted back in a flirtatious tone. Oh, they are so whipped.

Ms. Lee coughed to push their attention away from him, not wanting the stage to be all about the man. She inquired, “In the past, you’re known for being disqualified from IC17. So what finally made you participate?”

Even if the crowd laughed, Seungcheol didn’t hold back smiling distinctly as if he was thinking about something really pleasant, it could be too, no one knows. “To be honest, I used to look at IC17 as a waste of my time. It was like a blind date; just another way for me to get laid...”

“...But what made me to finally participate? Well, on the way to greatness, I claimed a better gift more than any trophies or awards or good that the world could offer...”

Seungcheol shifted his gaze to meet Jihoon’s and stared at him lovingly, “The one who changed me, the only award I need, my soulmate...Lee Jihoon.” Everyone cooed while Jihoon blushed in different shades of pink and red. How can Seungcheol say such things without the slightest embarrassment in his face?

Ms. Lee gasped dramatically and hooted right after, “Oh my god, that’s how you do a confession, Jihoon! Well done, Seungcheol. Thank you for letting us hear that wonderful answer. I’m sure that Jihoon feels the same way.” And Jihoon rolled his eyes, again but this time, to express his fond.

When she called on the next speaker, Seungcheol joyfully ran backstage and met Jihoon in a warm embrace. Jihoon, in a muffled voice, whined, “Oh, I can’t believe you. Everyone was looking at me and I was frightened for a whole minute, thank you very much.”

Seungcheol chuckled and breathed in Jihoon’s hair as he runs a hand through them. “You loved it anyway.”

Jihoon looked up and leaned in for a short peck. “Can’t say I don’t.”

Seungcheol gently leaned in towards the kiss, deepening it for a short while before pulling away, slipping his hand into Jihoon’s and invited, “Hey, why don’t we go somewhere relaxing? Noise can be annoying.”

Jihoon giggled, “Wow, that coming from you...that’s new.”

People stared but they didn’t care. They wouldn’t, ever. Not now.

When they reached outdoors, their main destination was the fountain, where