Make sure you've read chapter 22! It's a double update.

It had been a week since the club incident and Jongdae had neither spoken to Minseok nor responded to his texts. The tattoo boy seemed to be steering clear of him for some reason. Was it because he had permitted himself to be emotionally susceptible in front of Minseok in those few moments in the VIP room?

Every time Minseok made to walk toward him, Jongdae would either turn the other way or stare intently into the air, keen to indicate he did not wish to be talked to; he would look anywhere but at Minseok.

He needs some time to himself. A little depressed ‘cause of family stuff, Yixing had conveyed to him a couple of days ago. Hence, he had abstained from approaching Jongdae, unwilling to be a bother.

On the point of delving in his locker cabinet at lunch break, Minseok sensed he was under surveillance; someone’s eyes bore into the back of his head. Accordingly, he spun his body to look in the direction of the eyeballing culprit – only to be confronted by the sight of Jongdae propped up against a locker opposite from him, a few feet away, regarding him absorbedly.

Their eyes locked. Jongdae made no move to look away and Minseok could not take his eyes off of the other’s intense brown ones.

Minseok watched as Jongdae’s pupils dilated slowly but surely. He had heard somewhere that the harder someone’s brain worked, the more their pupils expanded. If that was the case, what was Jongdae deliberating so hard about?

“Your nose is bleeding.” Luhan’s eerie hiss was successful in disrupting his eye contact with Jongdae. It shocked him back to his surroundings so badly that he sprung a foot away from his best friend. He promptly tapped his fingers across his face to verify if he was really bleeding – he was not. He shot a vicious glare at Luhan. The latter cackled and showed a clean pair of heels before Minseok could box his ears.

He turned his head back to where Jongdae had stood to find that the boy had vanished.

-*-*-

Minseok recalled Jongdae’s words from the party about needing distraction. Thus, the next day upon entering their classroom and spotting Jongdae at his desk next to Yixing, he journeyed there. The two friends raised their heads to gawk at him, baffled. Never in his school life had he gone over to anyone’s desk – this was a first.

He had brought along with him all his journals, except Jongdae No. 09 in which he was still writing.

“I entrust you with my personal diaries in hopes that you’ll find them fun to read, fun and enlightening enough to get sidetracked.”

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