Chunji's POV

"Kawi bawi bo!"

"Yah! You did it too slow you cheat!"

"I did not! Lets do it again"

"Okay, Kawi bawi bo!"

"See I won again! You're just terrible at this"

"I always win when I play with Niel!" I turned to him "right Niel?"

"That's because you cheat"

"If I cheat then how come I can't beat L.Joe?"

"Because he's better than you" Pouting I turned away from the two. L.Joe laughed from my right and I knew if I turned to Niel he'd have the biggest grin on his face. I wasn't really mad. It was alot of fun playing with L.Joe. It was nice having an opponent that I wasn't always beating.

"Did you play with friends back in America?" asked Niel seemingly interested in L.Joe all of a sudden. I noticed the look on L.Joe's face change from being amused from our game to a slightly saddened look.

I noticed that L.Joe never seemed to look happy when he talked about America or friends. I was really curious about it but because I was worried about upsetting him I never mentioned it. Maybe it was better to ask him when we'd been friends longer.

"In America you didn't really play games with friends, they only really hung out and talked" That sounded incredibly boring. We'd always play games when we were bored or had nothing to say. Kawi bawi bo was one of our favourites, along with the tissue game but that eventually got too painful to play because no one wanted to play against Changjo which messed up the teams.

"What did you and your friends do?" L.Joe looked down and I knew that must have been the main problem with L.Joe. I decided to cut in.

"You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to L.Joe" I put my hand on his arm in hope that he knew I meant it. He breathed out and looked at Niel. "I didn't really have friends in America"

I didn't really believe him. How could anyone not wanna be friends with L.Joe. I wanted to be his friend from the moment I met him. "I wasn't the best with English and I got picked on for it. Instead of trying to make my english better I decided not to talk, so I guess people thought I was weird and didn't wanna talk to me" he flushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"That must have been tough" I never had to deal with something like that so I wouldn't have known what it was like to have no friends. "It was but it's behind me now and I'd rather keep it that way" he smiled. I understood completely. He was out of America now so there was no reason to dwell on the past. I knew now that I really wanted L.Joe to be my friend. I didn't want him to deal with what he went through in America.

I quickly looked at Niel and he looked back. He must have felt bad for him too because he wasn't smiling or anything now. He probably regretted asking him the question too.

I turned back to L.Joe and he looked at me straight away. I really wanted to find a way to cheer him up, maybe make him feel welcomed into our group. Then it hit me. "Do you like games?" I asked grinning. He just shrugged. "I'm pretty unlucky when it comes to games but they're okay"

"Well I have the best idea!" I didn't know how Niel, Changjo or Ricky would feel about this but L.Joe was starting to feel like a member of our group already. "Well this weekend Niel, Changjo and Ricky are coming over to my place for a sleepover"

I felt Niel look at me from beside me. I knew he wouldn't mind me inviting L.Joe but he was probably a little confused as to why I'd invited him. L.Joe was really cool. I felt like I'd known him for a long time already and I was comfortable with his presence. Plus, he isn't too bad to look at either.

"And.. you're inviting me?"

"Sure, why not?" I grinned. I was happy to see a big grin appear on his face too. "I'd love to Chunji"

"That's great! All we really do is play games and stuff so... yeah" I smiled happily.

----

I wasn't surprised that Niel jumped at the chance to confront me about L.Joe and the sleepover the minute L.Joe left the room. He had to go to the bathroom which was a perfect time for Niel to talk to me.

"You're inviting L.Joe to stuff already? we've only known him two days"

It was true that we'd only met him two days ago but I usually could tell if someone would be a good friend or not. I became friends with Niel after hearing his voice, I didn't need to know anything about him to make me like him. There was just something about him. I even became friends with Ricky and Changjo after they stole my bike. My parents thought I was crazy when I first invited the bicycle stealers into the house.

L.Joe was no different. He just seemed like a great guy. He was very close in age to me, he found the same kind of stuff funny as I did and he seemed to pay attention to me alot. I was a little confused as the fact that he kept watching me. At first I thought it was my imagination but it started happening way too frequently.

"I like L.Joe, don't you?"

"Of coarse I like him but isn't it a bit soon" Niel didn't look too sure about it. Niel and L.Joe seemed to be getting along really well. Niel had already started teasing him alot which was something Niel only really did with people he was comfortable with. I smiled reassuringly. "L.Joe is great and he'll be alot of fun okay?"

Niel just nodded. He'd usually go along with what I said anyway. I guess we'd have to see how it goes at the weekend. We still had a few days till the sleepover which I thought would be plenty of time for everyone to get comfortable with L.Joe. Not that I needed to. I already liked him.

Then Niel said something that I really didn't expect him to say. I knew I'd said it a few times but I didn't think Niel would.

"L.Joe is really good looking isn't he?" He was. He most definately was good looking but I didn't think Niel would have noticed.

I nodded a little, I was still a little shocked that he'd pointed it out. "Do you think he's gay?"

I was starting to think that maybe Niel had a crush on L.Joe. He didn't show any sign of having a crush on L.Joe, he just asked lots of questions. I was the one who was making all the conversation with him and messing around with him. It was a little out of the blue if you ask me.

"I don't know if he's gay Niel, you'd probably have to ask him yourself"

"Hm.. I think I will!" he grinned.

L.Joe's POV

Once again I was left alone after school while my new friends left. They said they had things to do like Chunji had to help his parents while Niel had a dentist appointment so I guess that couldn't be helped. On the plus side I was invited to a sleepover with them at the weekend so it wasn't like they were trying to avoid me.

I thought about how well the day had went. It seemed to have went really well. I was closer with Chunji and Niel, and I'd met Ricky. I hadn't ran into CAP meaning he must not really care about what happened yesterday. The only thing I was a little confused about was Changjo. He hadn't said two words to me all day.

I knew we didn't really know each other well so I shouldn't really expect him to wanna speak to me but for some reason, I got the feeling he was avoiding me. At lunch when I met Ricky all he seemed to do was brood and pick on Ricky. He barely even looked at me or said hi to me either. Maybe it was a good idea to talk to him and make sure there was no misunderstanding between us.

It must have been my lucky day as I noticed the younger boy hanging around outside of the school. He was alone so it seemed like a great chance to speak to him. As I walked over I noticed that he'd seen me coming. His figure tensed up against the school fence and he looked away. Yeah, something was definitely off.

As I walked over he looked back at me again, obviously realizing that I wasn't gonna leave. He spoke first. "I'm waiting for someone" that'd explain why he was still by the school. "That's not a problem, I just wanted to quickly talk to you before I left for home" I smiled hoping not to make him feel not so on edge. I don't know what he was expecting me to say but he really didn't seem to wanna hear it.

"I just wanted to say that I hope there isn't anything wrong between us, I want us to be friends" Changjo suddenly looked very confused. This must not have been what he was expecting. What did he think I was gonna say?

"There isn't a problem between us" I found it really hard to believe him. "You looked like you were expecting me to say something else to you which means you're worried about something"

He tensed up again, obviously at the fact he'd been found out. 

He then sighed and rubbed his arm. "I was honestly expecting you to ask me something about... CAP" he didn't seem happy at the sound of the seniors name as it came from his mouth. "Well actually.."

"But I don't see why you'd ask me about him, you don't know me enough to be able to dig into my personal life"

I was surprised at his continuation. Talking about CAP must have pushed a nerve. "My issue with CAP is my own business and it has nothing to do with you so i'd appreciate it if you'd stick to your own problems and not mine"

That got me really annoyed. Why did he assume I was gonna pry into his business. I only wanted to ask, I didn't wanna cause any problems. "Just because you've become friends with Chunji, Niel and now Ricky does not automatically make us friends and give you a right to know my business. You got it?"

I frowned at the younger boy. Was this the real Changjo? a rude unmannered boy unlike the bubbly, funny guy I met on the first day. I honestly didn't know if I even wanted to be his friend now..

"Forget it Changjo" I walked off, not looking back at him. Maybe he was meant to be CAP's friend after all.

Ricky's POV

Seeing L.Joe stomp away from my best friend was a little unsettling. As far as I knew L.Joe and Changjo were friends already, that's what Chunji and Niel told me. If that was so, why did L.Joe get annoyed at Changjo and walk away?

Changjo had a very hot temper so maybe there was a chance that L.Joe said something that got Changjo angry. The littlest things got to Changjo. With all the stuff going on with him lately that chances are he was even more on edge than usual.

I really wanted to know what was wrong with him.

We'd arranged to go out to a ramen place after school, Changjo's treat and I'd been looking forward to it all day but if Changjo was in a bad mood I wasn't sure if I wanted to go out with him.

Originally I'd thought today could be the day I tell Changjo about how I felt about him. Maybe it would have lightened his mood, especially if he liked me back. In my head I kept thinking of this as a date, which it wasn't. We'd usually go out together, alot of the time it was with Chunji and Niel but it wasn't unusual for me and Changjo to go out alone. Just today I felt it'd be different. Until now.

I walked over to Changjo and poked his shoulder. He quickly turned around and he still looked pretty annoyed. But when he noticed it was me I saw his features soften. It gave me a sense of hope. That maybe today wouldn't be too bad of a day to ask him.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?"

"I wasn't that late"

"Late enough, now lets go" he put his arm over my shoulder and led me off and away from the school. He didn't seem concerned that I may have seen L.Joe angrily walk off. I really wanted to ask him about it but so as not to make him angry I left it. Maybe i'd be able to ask him later.

I thought maybe it'd be better to try and cheer Changjo up.

While he was too busy walking I took the chance to jump onto his back. It wasn't a problem, despite Changjo being younger than me he was actually bigger than me and much stronger so carrying me was simple for him. We did this alot anyway.

He didn't even seem surprised, he just held me up and kept walking. This was one of the only ways I could be really close with Changjo without passing over our friendship and into something else. I wished we could go past our friendship and become much more. I wanted to be able to be close to Changjo whenever I wanted, to be able to hold his hand, touch him, kiss him, do anything. That was something I wanted more than anything.

Changjo never really showed me any sign that he wanted to go further with our relationship but I knew deep down that there was something between us.  He must have felt it.

Changjo took us to our favourite ramen joint not too far from the school. We'd always come here with Niel and Chunji and we'd sit here and fill ourselves up with the delicious noodle dish until we could barely move. It was one of my most favourite places to be. I was happy to be able to occasionally just share it with Changjo and i'd get him all to myself. Something that didn't happen much nowadays.

Everything kept making me think of how Changjo had been these last few weeks. It just wouldn't leave my mind. Even now, looking at him scan the menu, I notice that he's being quieter than usual. It felt horrible watching someone you love seem so down all the time.

Changjo told the cook what we wanted then turned to me. "Changhyunnie~" I couldn't help but let out a light chuckle from the name he called me. I had no idea what he was planning. "Jongie~?"

"You're being rather quiet today and I don't like it" I was being quiet? what about you?!

"I am?"

"Yes you are, is there a problem?" I wondered if I should tell him. Now would be a great time, he was listening and he'd asked me. I guess now was the best chance.

"You're worrying me Changjo" I quickly told him, hoping to get an okay reaction from him. I studied his face for a split second to try and guess his reaction. His look didn't really change. "I told you Ricky i'm fine" he suddenly grinned just as the ramen showed up.

I sighed as he picked up his chopsticks and started to eat. I guess i'd have to try another tactic to get him to talk.

"What happened with L.Joe?" I noticed him tense up at that. Maybe I should have just asked him that straight away. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw you arguing earlier" I picked up my own chopsticks and started eating. He'd already stopped eating and was watching me. From the look on his face he was trying to figure out what to say.

"Did he say something wrong?" I slurped some noodles up before looking back at him. He slowely shook his head in answer. "Did you do something wrong?" he shook his head again at that. "Then what Changjo?"

He opened his mouth as if to say something then closed it. I put my chopsticks down and took Changjo's hands in mine. "Tell me what's going on, I might be able to help"

The amount of emotions that filtered on and off Changjo's face was uncountable. It was really worrying.

He suddenly pulled his hands out of mine. "I wish everyone would just leave me alone and stop butting in!" he shouted before knocking over everything thing on the table and storming out.

What the hell?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm starting to think maybe it'd be better if I posted chapters every 2 days

That way i'd be able to make the chapters longer and make them better quality.

I wanna know how you guys feel

Is the quality okay enough for you to be able to deal with

or would you rather wait an extra day so you can be given longer chapters

tell me in the comments maybe?