[CHAPTER 12]

“ I Miss You “

Both Wonshik and Jaehwan have decided to return back to Moirae’s Edge after witnessing Hongbin’s breakdown. They really didn’t think that their friend was having such a hard time with his feelings and the struggles he was having. Neither of them have seen this side to Hongbin before and despite the latter trying to be rational about his feelings as well as what is right or wrong, Hongbin was having a difficult time controlling his feelings for Cha Hakyeon.

The two of them went out of the library as they decided to take a break from reading too deeply into Hakyeon’s fate. They knew how much Hakyeon have fallen for Hongbin and they even predicted the fact that Hongbin was feeling the same for Hakyeon. It wasn’t just curiosity that Hongbin had for Cha Hakyeon but he actually fell in love with the protagonist of an unpredictable story.

All of this was not within what Wonshik or Jaehwan was expecting. The two of them thought that Hongbin was just curious since he was never interested in anything before until he came into the facility. But after coming upon Hakyeon’s story, Hongbin has changed.

Or maybe, Hongbin never changed and this was who he is all along except he needed someone to trigger the curiosities and feelings within him?

Both of his friends were stumped.

“What should we do?” Jaehwan asked Wonshik as they walked back to their own departments.

“I… I don’t know anymore,” Wonshik furrowed his brows as he was stressing on a solution.

“I’ve just never seen him that way before. He broke down right in front of us! I was shocked…”

“I was too. I didn’t expect him to have fallen so deeply for Cha Hakyeon.”

“Is it my fault for letting him enter the story after all? Maybe I shouldn’t have… if I didn’t, none of this would have happened.”

“Hyung, you did what you thought was right. You only care about Hongbin and wanted to give him the best. It’s just, things turned out the way we least expected it.”

The two of them sighed together.

“For the time being, I think we should just make sure we keep an eye on him in case he does slip up. We have to make sure no one knows about this aside from me and you, okay?” Wonshik said.

“Yeah. I agree.”

“Anyways, I’ll see you tomorrow. You go and get some rest hyung, your worries are showing,” Wonshik patted the older on the back and headed inside his department.

Jaehwan couldn’t stop worrying. It was difficult not to worry about Hongbin after all.

He’s watched both Hongbin and Wonshik grow up. He saw Hongbin hide himself since they were kids and Jaehwan wanted nothing more than for Hongbin to discover that there was life outside of his home.

Jaehwan have always believed that Hongbin could do so much more if only he tried, if only he had the ambition like Wonshik but he just never cared for it. At least, not until he came upon Hakyeon’s story.

Jaehwan have been studying and working within Moirae’s Edge since he was in middle school. A child who have always looked upon the three Goddesses of Fate as well as reading the stories of those residing on Earth.

He was interested in the mysteries behind every story and the purpose of those stories. He studied for years and worked his way up to where he is now. But at the same time, he knew well that there were still many questions about fate that the facility have yet to find an answer to. When Hongbin was caught to have encountered a mysterious fate, Jaehwan’s curiosity also peaked. He’s never seen or read a story that was undetermined by the Goddesses and for his own selfish reasons, Jaehwan also wanted to know why Hakyeon’s story became the way it was.

Though he wanted the best for Hongbin, he wanted the best for himself as well. If he were to find out what truth lies behind Hakyeon’s fate, then he would be able to answer all the questions there ever was inside of Moirae’s Edge. It would no longer be a dream to become the next Supervisor of the Coordinator’s department.

But after witnessing the outcome of Hongbin’s interference with Hakyeon’s story, Jaehwan felt guilty for putting the two in such a predicament. He allowed for Hongbin to discover such painful feelings and also, he allowed Hakyeon to fall for someone he should never have met in the first place.

There was no future for neither of them and Jaehwan deeply regrets his decision.

But how can he undo what he did without hurting the two of them? That is what is he currently most troubled by…

“Jaehwan-ah,” an old man called out to him.

“Yes sir?”, Jaehwan than greeted the senior.

“You look quite gloom today. Where’s the usual happy Jaehwan that I know of?”

“Sorry. There’s just a lot on my mind lately.”

The old man is the current Supervisor of Jaehwan’s department, a great senior within the facility and one who is well respected by everyone in Moirae’s Edge. He is the man that even Jaehwan strives to be.

Jaehwan followed his Supervisor to their workshop and just as he did, he saw a tall man waiting for them.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” his Supervisor said to the guest in the room.

“It’s alright,” the man replied.

“Jaehwan, meet our new Supervisor for the Scholar’s department. He is around your age but a very talented young man just like yourself. I think it will be great if you can show him around since this old man here doesn’t have much energy in him to do so. Will you do that for me?”

“H-huh? Uh, of course. Nice to meet you. My name is Lee Jaehwan,” Jaehwan offered his hands to shake the new Supervisor’s hands.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” the young man said in a rather quiet voice.

He looks so young though… yet he’s already a Supervisor? Why haven’t I seen him around before? Jaehwan thought to himself.

* * * * * *

It took a bit for Hongbin to get back to normal. In all honesty, he really didn’t expect himself to lose control or break down in front of his friends. He was stressed out by everything and was frustrated that he couldn’t control his own feelings. But he decided to let the story play for itself.

Both him and Hakyeon have gotten used to hanging out with one another outside of their apartment or the bookstore. But instead of a written plan or schedule like their first date, Hongbin decided that it was best to be natural. Rather than planning on everything to happen, Hongbin told Hakyeon to just go with the flow. They should go where they feel like going and eat where they want to eat.

Hakyeon was quite happy that the younger was so thoughtful and he realized that Hongbin really did care about him.

The two of them sat at a small, quiet café where there weren’t so many people around to disturb them. It became another regular spot for them aside from the usual bookstore. Hakyeon took out his novel as well as some of his school preparations while Hongbin took out his comic books to read. They simply liked accompanying one another whenever possible, even if they didn’t talk a lot, it felt as if they were in a world of their own.

From time to time though, Hakyeon couldn’t help stealing glances at the younger to see what the younger was reading. Hongbin loved reading comic books for some reason and while the younger had a stoic face most of the time, Hongbin would sometimes try to hold back his loud laughter when he read certain parts of the book.

Hakyeon couldn’t help giggling either whenever he saw how immersed the younger was in his readings.

It was the same for Hongbin though. As entertaining as the book was, he also couldn’t stop looking at Hakyeon focusing really hard in his work. He let out a small smile of relief to see how diligent Hakyeon was in everything he did.

Then, there are times when the two of them caught one another stealing glances at another. That’s when they would take a second to stare at one another’s eyes and smile together.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Hongbin asked.

“Mhmm. You?” Hakyeon nodded delightfully.

“Yeah. Where should we go for dinner?”

“Let’s go to the supermarket and get some groceries. I like eating at home more.”

“Got it.”

As the two of them left the café, Hakyeon noticed that people were secretly following them with their eyes. It was the typical though whenever they went outside.

“They’re so good-looking,” one would whisper.

“Are they celebrities?” another questions.

Hakyeon tried to not mind the murmurs too much but it was hard especially whenever he comes to realization that Hongbin really did steal a lot of attention. Sometimes, realizing that he was Hongbin’s boyfriend made Hakyeon quite proud.

“So what do you plan on cooking tonight?” Hongbin asked Hakyeon as they walked on the sidewalks.

“Hotpot! The weather has gotten a bit chilly again so I thought it’d be best to warm up with something that requires little preparations,” Hakyeon said.

“Or you’re just lazy,” Hongbin laughed and ruffled the older’s hair.

Hakyeon chuckled at the younger’s affection.

“Are they going out?” Someone said.

That’s what made Hakyeon suddenly jolt.

Oh no.

He forgot that he was still in public. He had to watch out for people after all since he didn’t want people catching on to the fact that they were going out. What if someone from school or their neighborhood saw them and start to make rumors? What if they say something bad about Hongbin?

I better watch out, Hakyeon warned himself.

Subconsciously, Hakyeon distanced himself a bit from Hongbin’s side in case of unnecessary rumors or gossips.

Hongbin caught the older though.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Hmm? Nothing,” Hakyeon gave an awkward smile. “Let’s buy the grocery and hurry back home.”

* * * * * *

Hongbin was lazing around the bookstore on a fine sunny weekend alone. Everyone was out with friends or family during the weekends yet he was stuck attending the shop. If it wasn’t for this place being Hakyeon’s favorite, he would have shut the place down long time ago.

He looked at the clock as it read two in the after noon. Still, there was no sign of Hakyeon dropping by.

Hakyeon have been really busy with preparing for midterm examinations as well as teacher-parent conferences. So, the two of them didn’t have much time at all lately to meet one another. Hongbin missed the older quite more than he had expected especially whenever he was surrounded by books, since reading was more of Hakyeon’s interest rather than Hongbin’s. But nonetheless, in order to get close to the older and find out more about Hakyeon’s story, Hongbin opened this bookstore.

Before he entered Hakyeon’s life, all he did was read about the latter’s fate and story. He knew all of Hakyeon’s past and interests. Even the interior of the bookstore was according to Hakyeon’s preferences in which Hongbin found out by reading the older’s story. Hongbin didn’t care much for how the interiors of anything looked, so he would have had no idea where to start if he didn’t already know about the latter.

After looking at the clock several more times and realizing that it was barely moving, Hongbin decided to get out of the bookstore after all. It was too boring and he didn’t know when the older would ever be done with his work.

“Why is he working even on a weekend? It’s not fair,” Hongbin said to himself.

He locked the front doors of the store and got on his bike. It wasn’t his intentions nor was it planned, but he really wanted to see Hakyeon after all. Even if it was for a minute or two.

So, he rode his bike all the way to Hakyeon’s school gates.

As he arrived, Hongbin stood in front of the gates and stared at the large school yard in front of him. Though he’s passed by here a couple of times, he never stayed long enough to realize just how big the building was. This high school in which the older was teaching at, is one of the more renowned schools of Gwangju and for Hakyeon to have been hired here, Hongbin almost felt proud for Hakyeon.

First you achieved your dream as a teacher and now you also teach in such a big school. What more can you ask for? What aren’t you satisfied about that makes your story incomplete? Hongbin still couldn’t understand.

Just because he fell in love with the protagonist, didn’t make him any more curious about why Hakyeon’s fate was undetermined.

“What are you doing here?” A man appeared next to Hongbin.

It was Sanghyuk.

“You…” the instance Hongbin met eyes with the younger man, he immediately got irritated.

The two of them really didn’t see things eye to eye nor could they ever get along.

How is this man and I anything similar? Sanghyuk thought to himself, Hakyeon-hyung is too oblivious.

“What?” Hongbin found it irritating that the younger was looking at him with a judging expression on.

“Nothing. What are you doing here? If you’re looking for Hakyeon-hyung, he’s busy right now. Go home,” Sanghyuk grunted at Hongbin.

“None of your business. I can be here if I want to be.”

“Not if I ask the security guards to you out instead.”

“Well that’s too bad for you because that old man already knows who I am even before you came along and he knows that I’m friends plus neighbors with Hakyeon,” Hongbin smirked.

Sanghyuk grumbled even more and then he sighed.

“I don’t get why Hakyeon-hyung thinks you and I have anything in common. I’ll be honest with you but I don’t trust you. I don’t know what you’re up to or why you’ve approached Hakyeon-hyung. All I know is that you’re nothing but someone suspicious and I’m going to keep my eye on you. I won’t allow anyone to hurt Hakyeon-hyung ever again, even if he likes you.”

“Do what you want.”

As irritating as Hongbin found Sanghyuk to be, he knew that the younger had good intentions. One could say that Sanghyuk is a very overprotective younger brother for Hakyeon since he’s witnessed all of Hakyeon’s happy and sad times.

Back when Hongbin was still in Moirae’s Edge, aside from Hakyeon’s story, he’s read about everyone who had any relations to Hakyeon’s fate. The stories of those whom Hakyeon have encountered throughout his life.

Sanghyuk is one of them.

That’s why Hongbin couldn’t find himself to completely hate Sanghyuk’s nosiness either because he knew that even if everyone had turned their backs on Hakyeon, the younger man who stood in his way would never.

* * * * * *

Hakyeon closed up his notebook after completing his entire list of things to do before the midterm exams. He’s compiled a study guide just for his students in order to help them understand and study the materials better. He was once a student too, in fact, not too long ago so he knew of their struggles to balance so many classes all at once. Though he can’t be anymore lenient on the exams itself, he could still provide a thorough guide so that his students can study more efficiently.

He looked at the draft copy of the guide and felt a bit proud of himself to be able to get so much done in such a short amount of time. All that’s left to do is revising it and making the final version.

He leaned his back against his chair and let out a stretch.

As he glanced outside, he noticed the sun was beginning to set. Winter was approaching and the days were much shorter.

I’ve been here all day long haven’t I? He looked at the clock on his phone and sighed a bit to realize that the day was almost ending.

“It’s going to be late once I go home. We didn’t get to meet even once today…” he sighed as he thought of calling Hongbin so that he could hear the younger’s voice. “I miss you.”

“Same.”

Just then, Hakyeon turned his head to see who it was and to his surprise, it was Hongbin standing by the doors. The younger smiled in relief to finally see Hakyeon.

“Are you almost done with work?” he asked.

“Yeah. But why are you here?” Hakyeon thought he was dreaming.

“I was bored so I dropped by.”

Hongbin said trying to cover up the fact that he deliberately rode his bike all the way here from the bookstore just so that he could see Hakyeon’s face.

“So, did you miss me?” Hongbin asked as he got closer to Hakyeon.

Hakyeon nodded as his cheeks flushed pink.

“You?” the older asked.

Hongbin smiled and hugged the older, “same.”

“What did you do all day?” Hakyeon asked as he and Hongbin sat down at the teacher’s lounge to chat.

“Nothing much. The usual.”

“I see.”

“I ran into that kid by the way,” Hongbin decided to be honest before he got caught.

“Kid? Who?”

“Han Sanghyuk .I bumped into him at the school gates.”

“Really? Did you guys talk? How was it? He’s from my hometown and I’ve been meaning to introduce the two of you to one another.”

“Yeah I know. But let’s just say, I don’t think he and I can get along,” Hongbin rolled his eyes a bit just thinking about Sanghyuk annoying him.

“Why not?”

“Let’s just say… there’s a clash of interests.”

“Aww, that’s too bad. I’m sure if we give it some time, the two of you will be able to sort out your differences,” Hakyeon giggled a bit seeing Hongbin’s annoyed facial expressions. “Sanghyuk is a good kid though.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he is. Anyways, enough about him. Are you almost done here? Let’s go home for dinner.”

“Oh right! Let me just clean up and we can go home.”

“I’ll help you.”

After putting away his work and organizing his desk a bit, Hakyeon was ready to leave with Hongbin. The older rode behind on Hongbin’s bike like the usual as they made their way home.

“You know, I was worried,” Hongbin said.

“Huh? What?” Hakyeon couldn’t really hear what the younger was saying from the wind and traffic.

“I said, I was worried,” Hongbin repeated a little louder.

“About what?”

“I thought you were avoiding me.”

“W-what? Why would I do that?” Hakyeon obviously knew he was doing that a bit but he really didn’t want to hurt the younger’s feelings.

“That’s what I like to know.”

“S-sorry.”

“That’s okay. I’ll forgive you if you promise to spend a bit more time with me.”

“Haha, okay.”

* * * * * *

Hongbin helped set up the table while Hakyeon was finishing up the last few dishes for dinner. The two of them still tried their best to have meals together despite how busy Hakyeon was at work.

“Oh, by the way, were you talking with your friends on the phone the other day?” Hakyeon suddenly said.

“W-what?” Hongbin almost choked since he wasn’t expecting this question so suddenly.

“A few days ago, I heard you shouting from your apartment after we separated.”

“D-did you hear anything?” Hongbin couldn’t help his stutters.

“Not really except I could hear you raising your voice a bit. I thought you were talking with someone on the phone and having an argument. Is everything okay?”

Hongbin couldn’t help but sigh in relief knowing that the older didn’t know what he was arguing about with Wonshik and Jaehwan.

“It’s nothing. Just a small fight with my friends from overseas.”

“Are you okay?” Hakyeon was a bit worried since he knew that Hongbin didn’t have many friends to begin with.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. We’ll sort things out. We usually do.”

“Okay. But if you need someone to talk to, you know I’ll be here for you right?” Hakyeon smiled.

“Sure. Anyways, let’s eat. I’m starving!” 

A/N: This chapter was more of an icebreaker and I really wanted to write something relaxing for once.  It's got its moments too of course for some more plot but the main focus was just for the two main characters to relax and converse with one another. I hope that makes sense.