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As soon as they arrive back at Jieun's place, her parents went berserk. It's a rare sight for Jieun to cry but now she's bawling her eyes out beside him while he shifts uncomfortably under his parents’ gaze. His parents didn’t say anything mostly because Jieun's parents have already lectured him until he is almost deaf. However, what he didn’t expect was for Jieun to defend him senselessly. The reason why she cried is because her parents still insist on blaming Junmyeon partially which made her cry in frustration. At the end, Jieun gets grounded while Junmyeon is left picking up the pieces of his own heart.

It's so silly for Junmyeon to let out a tear for a boy that's 6 years younger than him. Pftt he's not some young adult. Junmyeon’s a man with a career already. Shouldn't this be just a fling for him?

But no matter how many times he tries to convince himself that he's fine, it feels like he's actually taking two steps backwards. The memories are so fresh in his head that he would smile in the middle of crying, thinking about the time he spent with Yifan.

He sighs. Yifan is the person who is closest to Junmyeon's definition of a lover. And there's no denying Yifan is his first heartbreak. At times, he would remind himself; this is why you don't need a lover. Your heart is going to crumble into pieces again. But the thing is, Junmyeon never regrets allowing himself to fall for Yifan. Because even though he was being cautious, the feeling that he has when Yifan is around is simply one of the most wonderful feelings he has ever felt.

There’s a sound of the door clicking open and Junmyeon immediately wipes his tears away. Not really in the mood to talk, he pretends to sleep which proves to be a waste because Jieun can easily see through his stance that he is indeed awake.

"Junmyeon, I know you're not sleeping. I just want to talk to you."

Turning his body around, he reveals his bloodshot eyes and his red runny rose to his cousin. The latter frowns before making his way to sit on the bed. "You look terrible." She says solemnly.

"I feel terrible." No sugar-coating, he does feel awful right now. Rejection never felt so painful in his heart before.

"Talk to me please."

He sighs. "Jieun, what do you want me to say? It's over. We saw this coming."

"I know I never really say this but I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess. And I’m sorry that you had to lie. For being an awful person, I really wish I could turn back the time." Both of them hold their gaze together. Junmyeon can see the guilt in her eyes which is quite infrequent in Jieun's case. "Glad that you learn how to apologize but.... I don't regret any of it. Okay maybe I do, but then again I wouldn't have known Yifan, would I?"

"And you wouldn't have gotten your heart broken." The younger’s frown deepens. But it’s not entirely Jieun’s fault. As much as Junmyeon loves Jieun owning her wrongdoings, not everything is because of her.

"Me being heartbroken is not your fault. I could’ve changed the situation. But I didn’t." Junmyeon knows he is also in the wrong. He should've made the move to be honest earlier. Yes, he got into this mess because of Jieun. But he can’t say he regret following her.

At least he learned how to let himself free and the best part of it, Yifan was with him.

"So what are you going to do now?"

Junmyeon eyes the plane ticket and the passport that’s on top of the nightstand. "There's nothing left for me to do here. It's time to move on I guess. Even if it is hard."

Click

"There you go. All set."

"Umma, I can do it myself." Junmyeon tightens the belt that's wrapped around his waist. The old woman just smiles at his son, before leaning back to her seat. "I know. It's been awhile since I take care of my son. You didn’t even visit me before you take off last week."

The grin on her mother’s face soon slips off and Junmyeon feels guilty about it. Frankly, it’s not like he didn’t want to see his mother. That's hardly the case. He's just....been busy. And the road from his mother's place to his isn’t really a brief trip. "I'll visit more often, Umma. Or you can just come by any day." he says before turning to look outside the window.

He's leaving now.

Leaving everything behind. Including his heart.

One thing that is not regretful is that he's leaving in good terms with the others, Yifan being an exception. A few minutes ago Tao had sent him a picture of him and Sehun together, wishing for a safe flight. Kyungsoo too says that he'll see him in Korea in a few weeks. Clutching the phone in his hand, he wishes a certain someone would text him too. Just a single goodbye will do. Or just a confused dot, he will take anything.

But who is he kidding anyways. It's not going to happen.

Hesitantly, he offs his phone, ready for a takeoff.

Good bye, Yifan.

The noise of chattering goes into deaf ears as Junmyeon stares into nothingness. It's been a week since Florida. Junmyeon wouldn't say he is miserable but the word that's relatable to him right now would be 'empty'.

Maybe moving on is easier said than done.

He got back to work two days after he landed in Korea. It was more of a lonely two days. There's always this immense feeling in his heart where he wants to send a text to Yifan. He just wants to say hi. But then again, doesn't that make him a masochist?

Why would he keep on holding onto someone he can’t have?

"—myeon.......Junmyeon hyung!" A waving hand in front of him brought him back to his sense. He looks up to see Baekhyun peeking over from his cubicle and stare at him in worry.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay? You've been staring at that paper sheet for a good 2 minutes."

"I did?" he mutters, rubbing his nape. That’s embarrassing. "Oh.. I was just thinking."

Baekhyun bites his lower lip before getting off from his seat to sit on the empty chair next to him. "You've been doing that since you got back from your break. Did something happen? I mean you kinda shut us down when we asked you about it."

Right when he came back to work, his colleagues had flocked him with questions on who is the man that was in his picture on Instagram. It took a while for him to figure out that they were talking about Yifan. He didn’t know if it's a wise thing to tell them like ‘hey, that's my fling on spring break. He's nineteen’. Junmyeon internally cringes at the thought itself. He ends up insisting it was just a friend of Jieun's, which is not a lie. However the term friend isn't doing any justice about his feelings.

"Now why can't we have a man looking that good working here?" Luna huffed, making his other colleagues groaned.

Back to where Baekhyun is prying about his break, Junmyeon shakes his head to dismiss it. "It's nothing really. I had a great time there."

Baekhyun was about to retort until someone called him out in a peeved off manner. "Byun Baekhyun. Get out of my seat."

The smaller male pouts, blinking his eyes repeatedly to the newcomer."But I'm talking to Junmyeon hyung."

"And where should I sit? On top of you?" The deep voiced male groans.

"Well, I would actually love tha—"

"Baekhyun!"

"Okay okay I’m leaving. Geez Chanyeol, take a joke." Baekhyun goofs off before winking at the taller. Junmyeon couldn't help but cringe at his friend’s not so subtle flirtation.

"By the way, Alan from marketing department thought that you are dating." This got Junmyeon's eyes to widen as he stares confusingly at Chanyeol. Him? Dating? Baekhyun upon hearing it, cranes his neck until his puppy eyes and nose are visible again to them.

"Hyung? Dating? With who?"

"I dont know." he shrugs. "He mentions something about Instagram post. And how your boyfriend also posted the same picture."

“The hot dude? Ayyy how can that be? I think I would’ve known if the person sitting in front me is gay as well.”

Out of sudden, Junmyeon falls into a loud coughing fit, making the people around them looking at him weirdly. "Woah hyung? Do you need water? Baek, grab him some water." The brunet immediately stands up and sprints to the water dispenser.

As for Junmyeon, his whole face is red. What a way for other people to find out.

Work is tiring as usual. Of course, even with his break, there are still things that he has to clear up. And today is one of his days where he has to work overtime. His back is already numb from sitting for 12 hours.

The only thing keeping him boost up is his black bitter coffee. Junmyeon doesn’t even drink black coffee but he needs it to keep his eyes wide open if he wants to finish all the paperwork.

The walk to his apartment from the parking lot is quite dark if it weren’t for the light from the basketball court. Someone should really fix the street lights; it's been dead for weeks. Unconsciously, his feet stop right in front of the basketball court. There are some people playing, shouting and running chasing the ball. The situation somehow reminds him of the faint memory in his head.

"That's it. We are going to jail."

"Oh for God sake, Kevin. Shut up. You're going to get us caught." Jongin hisses through his gritted teeth while shaking his almost dead torchlight. Once the light is back on, Jongin grins then takes off his bag. The younger proceed to throw it over the high wall, making it fall with a loud thud.

"Dude! Not so loud!"

"Do you think I have telekinesis to control the fall? And stop shaking, you're making Junmyeon shiver too."

Junmyeon jolts at the mention of his name. He looks to the now perplexed Yifan before glancing at their joint hands, which are terribly shaking. "I can't help it. We are breaking into your school. A PRIVATE SCHOOL. If we get caught-"

"We will if you don't shut up and help me climb over the wall."

Yifan groans, marching over to Jongin and Kevin so that they can help Jongin up. The latter steps on their hands before both of them pushed Jongin up until his hands clasp on the top of the wall. With the minimum noises he can make, he climbs and settles himself on top of it, legs hanging both sides of the wall. "Okay, small ones first."

Kyungsoo is the first one to climb next and he did it very smoothly with the help of Jongin. Something tells Junmyeon this probably isn’t Kyungsoo's first time. And then Jieun follows next without much hassle. It's now his turn and he doesn't know if he can even do it after all.

"You can do this." Yifan whispers into his ear before leaning back. Junmyeon almost blushes but he has no time for that because Jongin is already getting ready to pull him.

He can't explain how it happened but to sum it up, he did succeed getting to the other side. Well, it takes him longer than the others and also noisier to climb up. He felt a bit guilty looking at Jongin's tired frame from having to pull his heavy up.

The last person to climb was Tao. He needn't anyone to help him because ‘I'm a wushu master, remember?’

When all of them are together, Jongin picks up his bag and they tip toed their way to the school back door. All this while, Junmyeon’s heart was beating so fast because one wrong move and he will end up behind bars for trespassing a school property. He doesn't even live here let alone go to this school! He sticks himself to Kyungsoo like glue because the latter looks the calmest. Therefore, he needs to rub some of the effect on him too.

"Is there no CCTV around here?" He asks, voice shaking.

"There actually is. But we've been walking on the blind spot of the CCTV. Same goes back there where we were climbing." Kyungsoo explains in a hush tone. Junmyeon's lips forms into an O before nodding his head.

Then, there's a sound of a door opening. It was Jongin, pushing the back door open. "Come on, in here."

All of them follow suit. They wander off inside the hall until out of sudden, the lights turn on and Sehun shrieks. They all turn around to see Kyungsoo raising his eyebrow, hand on the switch at the corner of the room. "Tskk you guys need to calm down."

"Okay. We are in and that means we are safe." Jongin announces; voice no longer in a whisper tone. "The guards only checks around at the entrance and we are pretty far from it. I can say we are not likely to get caught. I mean so far I haven't." He continues.

"If so, then why are we even whispering in the first place?" Jieun asks in annoyance.

"Because it's fun watching you guys freaking out. Especially Sehun over there."

Everyone turns their head to Sehun, expecting him to retort something but the tall male only clicks his tongue before taking out the basketball in Jongin's bag. "Well, what are you guys waiting for?"

Tao, Sehun Kevin and Yifan have a smug grin on their faces as they run to the court. Meanwhile Jieun and Kyungsoo sigh, rolling their eyes. "Who knew Jongin is a basketball player too ."

The sound of shoe screeching and ball hitting against the basketball board is very much loud. The four of them kept playing until their heart runs out of breath.

Just how in the world they aren't caught yet? Junmyeon starts to think that maybe they have soundproof walls. Or the guard is doing a half job. Eventually, the four of them lies down in the middle court as their chest moving rapidly out of exhaustion.

"Come on, guys." Jieun says, leaving the bench to give Kevin his bottle.

And surely, Junmyeon is holding Yifan's. He makes his way to taller and plop his right next to him. "You guys really need to take a chill pill."

Yifan lets out a chortle while accepting the drink Junmyeon is handing to him. "We would but that boy, Jongin is really passionate. And it kind of kindles everyone.”

"Yeah, I can tell. But," he pokes at the huge wet spot on Yifan's shirt. "You're sweating like crazy. I'm going to sit far away from you until you are dry again" he continues, attempting to scoot away from the taller but Yifan is fast to tug his arm. That results to Yifan hugging Junmyeon like a koala bear on the floor. "NO. Stop! You're smelly, Yifan."

"Nu uh. You are stuck with this smelly man."

Junmyeon lets out a playful shriek when Yifan starts to tickle his tummy. "Please stop. I’m going to call the police. OFFICER! Someone is harassing me!"

Before Yifan could attack even more, a powerful hand smacks Yifan at the back of his head, earning a loud ‘pak’ sound. Junmyeon looks up to see the displeased Tao. "If you guys don't shut up it'll be my shoe next time."

Junmyeon didn’t know he was being so loud but poor Yifan, rubbing his abused head. His hand goes to Yifan's scalp to ease the pain but soon both of them fall into a fit of giggles.

"Okay! So any of you shorties want to play with us?" Kevin's loud voice calls out, taking everyone's attention.

"Shorty?"

"Come on. Let's play one game. Get the ball from me and shoot. Simple as that."

As Junmyeon glances at Kyungsoo's direction, he couldn’t deny the strong aura around Kyungsoo. It's probably a competitive aura. "Aww don't take it too hard, hyung." Jongin appears beside Kyungsoo and give the latter a back hug. "You heard him. Show him what you got." he whispers smugly in Kyungsoo’s ear.

Somehow, the smirk on Kyungsoo's face seems a bit scary.

"Ready?" Kevin says, bouncing the ball confidently in front of Kyungsoo while the smaller only has a blank look on his face.

"Uuhh I feel sorry Kyungsoo. Just look at the height difference." Yifan mutters and Junmyeon silently nods.

"Don't be."

Jongin grins, arms crossed. "There's a reason why I always drag him here."

When Junmyeon looks back at the scene, he almost couldn't believe how swiftly Kyungsoo scoop the ball from Kevin and damn Kyungsoo is so fast when he bounces the ball to the hoop. Before Kevin could even catch up, Kyungsoo calmly throws the ball and despite his height, he manages to effortlessly score.

All of them (except Jogin) was agape and still for a moment.

None of them took Kyungsoo as the athletic type. Not to mention the small male is so squishy and little. Loud claps bring everyone into their right mind again. Their eyes train to Kyungsoo who is now in Jongin's arms. "That's my boy," Jongin says proudly, giving a peck on Kyungsoo's lips.

"Well, that was unexpected." Jieun mumbles.

Yifan then pulls Junmyeon until he is a just a few feet from the hoop. Junmyeon accidentally lets out and ‘umph’ when the taller throws him the ball. "I like to see you shoot a point."

Junmyeon raises his eyebrows. Yifan looks terribly confident that Junmyeon won't be able to score. Underestimating me, aren’t we? What Yifan didn’t know is that Junmyeon would spend some time scoring ball into hoops back at his apartment. It's actually the only thing that Junmyeon would do on weekends that is close to an exercise.

"Where's the fun in that? Let's make a bet then."

Junmyeon's proposal seems to intrigue Yifan. "I'm listening."

"Hmm if I can’t score at my first shot, I'll do anything you want. If I win, I want you to.." Junmyeon ponders for a moment, "..kick Tao's . Not so hard and not so gentle."

"Ugh Junmyeon, you do know he's going to kill me if I do so?"

"That's my revenge for the sweat attack."

Still, the confident expression is on Yifan's face and it both excites and annoys Junmyeon. He is getting ready in the position to throw before Yifan speaks. "If I win, you will have to kiss me. How's that?"

Junmyeon scoffs before aiming at his target. "Not anytime soon" he simpers at the same time, the ball is already off his hands. The sound of the ball falling into the hoop is worth of Yifan's shocked face. He turns to the now soulless Yifan before closing the latter’s wide mouth. "One thing you and Kevin have in common. And that is underestimating a shorty."

"Wha....what... You said you’ve never played basketball before." Yifan points at him accusingly.

"I said I never played a full basketball game. I occasionally threw a few balls before."

The betrayed expression on Yifan's face is just too hilarious for Junmyeon. He's trying to surpass his laughter from escaping his mouth. "You robbed me!" Yifan half shouts, trying to catch the now sprinting Junmyeon.

"Did I?" The smaller male mocks, sticking out his tongue. They run around in circles as similar to a cat and mouse. However, Junmyeon’s short legs finally give out and Yifan manage to trap the smaller in his arms. "Ugh Yifan. You're going to get sweat all over me again."

"Splendid. Now let me hold you." Yifan whines. Despite the smelly sweat, Junmyeon still rests the back of his head on Yifan's chest as Sehun is challenging another game with Kyungsoo.

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