One day
Paper PiecesHanbin was confused.
It almost felt like that he could not get a hold of Yunhyeong today. His hyung was nowhere to be seen. He was already gone when he woke up this morning and when he went to his class, his classmate said that he finished his exams early and left. Now, even during lunch, he was not present in their usual table.
And even Chanwoo was here.
“Have you seen Yunhyeong-hyung?” He asked.
“For the fifth time, hyung.” Donghyuk groaned. “No.”
“I was asking him.” Hanbin pointed at Chanwoo.
Multiple heads perked up around the table. If Hanbin was not frustrated, he would have snorted. Sure, it was his first time directly engaging (at his own volition) with a conversation to Chanwoo but it was not a big deal to fuss over with.
Chanwoo looked at him with wide eyes and swallowed. It almost felt like that he was about to answer him but suddenly decided against it and just shook his head.
Hanbin made a sound of disappointment, arms crossed. His mind raced with thoughts of taking a quick round on the campus just to find his hyung. He needed to make sure that Yunhyeong would not bail out on their meeting this afternoon.
He needed him there.
“Ya, stop being childish,” Jinhwan said. “What do you need him for anyway?”
“He’s just excited he’s meeting Dahyun later.” Bobby piped in offhandedly over a mouthful of fries.
“Oh, yeah. Hanbin-hyung will be helping the freshmen for their music for the festival at the end of the month.” Donghyuk elaborated to Jinhwan. “Dahyun’s one of the committees.”
“Dahyun? Kim Dahyun?” Jinhwan glanced back and forth between Bobby and Donghyuk. “Isn’t she, his--”
“Hanbin hyung’s little ole’ crush.” Junhoe finished monotonously for Jinhwan.
A sudden feeling of rush and shyness spread over Hanbin when he heard Dahyun’s name from his friend, restlessness forgotten for a while. He felt himself smiling unconsciously. He was really looking forward to their first actual meeting later.
Jinhwan frowned. “I still don’t see the connection of all this to Yunhyeong.”
“I asked Yunhyeong hyung to come with me,” Hanbin answered.
“You asked him what?”
Chanwoo’s attention immediately snapped at Jinhwan. He was not sure if it was just a fragment of his imagination or he really heard an edge on Jinhwan’s voice after hearing Hanbin’s explanation.
There was a seriousness on Jinhwan’s face that Chanwoo witnessed for the first time. His usual smiling eyes were now peering sharply across the table to Hanbin. A wave of chill washed over him not used with the change of demeanor since he was always calm and laid back since they met.
“I asked him to come with me in the meeting.” Hanbin furrowed his brows. “Is there a problem hyung?”
For a moment, Jinhwan only stared at Hanbin as if he was debating on something. Chanwoo noticed that all of them was waiting for the reply with subtle anticipation.
With a muted sigh, Jinhwan broke off the eye contact.
“Nothing.” He said. “Just surprised.”
Donghyuk snickered. “Surprised that hyung’s finally making a progress?”
Hanbin let out a sound of protest.
Junhoe smirked while Bobby chuckled.
Chanwoo felt the tension dissipating with the remark. He glanced at Jinhwan expecting that he’d be schooling his default cool expression, but Chanwoo only saw a tight smile.
Then, like all those cliché light bulb moments, it all clicked to him.
Chanwoo finally figured it out.
Dahyun.
Is that why Yunhyeong hyung not around?
Is that why Jinhwan hyung…
Jinhwan hyung knew.
Hanbin hyung and Yunhyeong hyung.
They both like Dahyun. They both like the same girl.
His mind buzzed with all the thoughts about the realization, trying to find the connections with all the things that he noticed; the actions, the excuses, the reluctance.
Somehow, it all made sense.
Chanwoo’s eyes flickered between Hanbin and Jinhwan, wondering why did he still have this nagging feeling that he was missing out something.
***
It was almost time for the meeting when Hanbin finally saw Yunhyeong. He literally has to scout around the campus just to find his hyung.
He found him in a usually crowded old hallway of a building at the far end of the campus. That time, however, since it was the last day of the midterm, and most of the students finished their exams early, it was only the two of them there.
“Hyung!” Hanbin called as he jogged towards Yunhyeong.
Yunhyeong did not turn and just kept walking as if he did not hear Hanbin.
“Yunhyeong hyung!” Hanbin reached over his hyung’s shoulder as he neared him.
This time, Yunhyeong stopped slowly turned to him but did not say anything.
“Where have you been hyung?” Hanbin complained. “I was looking for you all day.”
The scowl on Hanbin’s face transformed into a look of confusion upon meeting the serious gaze of his hyung.
Hanbin peered concernedly, putting his free hand to Yunhy
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