Forgiveness
Pinky-PromisesThe moment Taekwoon stepped foot into the hallway, he realized that Sanghyuk was already a good distance away from him. The younger boy could run like nobody's business, and even with his athletic background, Taekwoon knew that he would have trouble catching up. The distance between them was only growing larger, and if Sanghyuk didn't slow down or Taekwoon didn't start running, there would be no chance of clearing up any misunderstandings.
Taekwoon began sprinting down the hallway, and he cursed Sanghyuk for his long legs. Taekwoon himself was tall, but Sanghyuk was quickly getting taller. An advantage that Taekwoon had was that the hallways were relatively empty since everyone was still at lunch, but Sanghyuk was clearly using that to his advantage as well.
"Sanghyuk! Stop!" Taekwoon could only hope that the other boy would slow his pace.
"Why should I!?" Sanghyuk didn't slow down, instead, he seemed to speed up.
"It's a misunderstanding!"
"I know what I saw, Taekwoon! There's no way in hell that that's a misunderstanding!"
"Watch your mouth! And just let me explain!"
Sanghyuk abruptly stopped, and Taekwoon did the same. The former took a step back when the latter took a step forward. Taekwoon knew it would continue like that, so he stood still. Sanghyuk glared at him and was poised to start running again if the need arose. They stared at each other for a while, panting from the physical excursion, before Sanghyuk spoke.
"You have thirty seconds to explain. If I don't believe you, I'm telling Hakyeon and the rest of the group." Sanghyuk's glare was relentless.
"I didn't want to ki-"
"You sure as hell looked like you enjoyed it."
"Just listen! If I had known it was you that was going to be walking past that door, I wouldn't have been acting that way. We made a deal. If I act like her boyfriend, she'll tell everyone that the rumors aren't true."
"And you believed her!? Sorry Taekwoon, but your thirty seconds are up, and your story isn't good enough." Sanghyuk turned away, and Taekwoon began running only a second before the former. He chased his friend down the hallways and to a classroom. Sanghyuk shoved the door open and didn't hesitate to explain the situation. "Taekwoon and Jinsu were making out!"
Taekwoon slammed into Sanghyuk's back, and they toppled to the floor. They looked up to see Hakyeon in Wonshik's lap, both looking slightly disheveled. They were staring down at the two in surprise, and all four boys quickly scrambled to their feet. It took a few more moments for Hakyeon and Wonshik to process what Sanghyuk said.
"You were what!? Are you trying to ruin your friendship with Jaehwan for the rest of your lives!?" Hakyeon, as expected, began screeching, and Wonshik put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Hakyeon, I'm sure he has an explanation." Wonshik looked to Taekwoon expectantly, and the latter took a deep breath.
It took more time than necessary for Taekwoon to properly explain everything to the three boys because they were continuously interrupting him, but he managed to get his point across. He had hoped they would understand, but instead, they were all glaring at him. Taekwoon didn't understand why. He was doing this to help them, but they looked so angry. He was trying to get them out of the situation, but his efforts didn't seem very appreciated.
"Taekwoon, this is going to make things worse." Hakyeon had fixed a cold, unrelenting stare on him. "We know you have good intentions, but it's not going to help."
"The rumors will die down once something more interesting comes up, and knowing this school, it won't take long. You're making this worse." Wonshik was uncharacteristically serious, and Taekwoon was worried that he had made the worst decision possible.
"It's going to make things better..." Taekwoon was staring down at his hands, and his voice came out in a whisper.
"For who!? Certainly not you! And most certainly not Jaehwan!" Hakyeon took a deep breath before speaking again. "Look, I really don't want to choose a side between two of my friends, but you're hurting Jaehwan in more ways than you should. You could have fixed things between the two of you today, but with the deal you made with Jinsu...I don't think that's going to be possible anymore. It's bad enough that you, his best friend started treating him like a different person, but to kiss his ex-crush twice? Taekwoon, I'm starting to think that you're doing all of this on purpose. It's like you want to lose Jaehwan."
"No..." Taekwoon's voice cracked on that one syllable. "I would never-"
The classroom door slammed open, and the four boys looked up to see Jaehwan, face blank. He was breathing heavily, and he walked over to Taekwoon. Jaehwan straightened up, and he towered over the person he used to call his best friend. He glared down at him, and he spoke without breaking eye contact.
"Hakyeon," Jaehwan's voice came out in a harsh tone. "I heard something interesting when I was walking through the halls. I wasn't surprised when I heard whispers when I walked past a group of girls. After all, people have been spreading rumors about us left and right. I was surprised when I heard what exactly the girls were whispering about."
Jaehwan was still keeping his promise. He wasn't speaking to Taekwoon. Taekwoon couldn't tell if it took him a lot of effort to do so. He could only see anger and betrayal in his eyes. Jaehwan was looking at him the way Sanghyuk was looking at him when he saw Taekwoon and Jinsu kissing. Taekwoon felt his heart constrict in his chest, exactly as it had when he woke up from his nightmare.
"I heard them say that there was a girl and a boy making out in an empty classroom. They said that the boy was holding the girl close to him with his arms around her waist. They said that the girl was Jinsu. They said that the boy was a certain bastard that I really don't want to have anything to do with at the moment. They said that the two of them would make a good couple. They said that they looked like they really enjoyed their little make-out session. They said that the boy and the girl must be dating." Jaehwan was leaning down at this point. He was so close to Taekwoon that their noses were touching.
"Jaehwan..." Taekwoon whimpered, and he shut his eyes when Jaehwan grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him to his feet. "Jaehwan, I-"
"You know, Hakyeon, a few days ago, I would've felt hurt. As for right now? I just feel angry."
"Jae-" Taekwoon was jostled when Jaehwan shook him slightly. Jaehwan never looked at him that way, and Taekwoon felt scared. For the first time ever, he was afraid of Jaehwan.
"Hakyeon, take Sanghyuk and Wonshik and leave."
"Jaehwan, I'm not going to le-" Hakyeon was interrupted.
"Leave." Jaehwan spoke with authority, and Hakyeon reluctantly obeyed.
Taekwoon looked over Jaehwan's shoulder and saw Hakyeon dragging Sanghyuk and Wonshik away, holding both of them by their wrists. The trio stole one last glance back at him, and Taekwoon thought he saw pity in all of their eyes. He didn't want their pity. He wanted them to stay. He didn't want to be alone with an angry Jaehwan, not when Jaehwan was angry at him.
Jaehwan slightly shook him again, and Taekwoon immediately met his gaze. Taekwoon regretted it once he did, but he couldn't look away. It hurt him to see Jaehwan looking at him with so much hatred. All the anger and betrayal was directed toward him, and even if he deserved it, he didn't think he could handle it.
They stayed like that for a few moments, Jaehwan glaring and Taekwoon unable to look away. Right when it seemed like Jaehwan was going to leave him alone, Taekwoon was shoved to the floor, nearly hitting his head on a nearby desk. Taekwoon couldn't meet Jaehwan's gaze again, so he stared at the latter's feet. Jaehwan was walking closer, and Taekwoon was soon forced back on his feet.
Before he knew it, Taekwoon had a fist slamming into his face. This time, he actually did hit his head on a desk as he fell to the floor. His vision was swimming, but he couldn't tell if it was from the pain or the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. Once again, he was forced to his feet and punched to the floor. Jaehwan kept at it, and Taekwoon did nothing to stop him.
At one point, the anger in Jaehwan's eyes turned to pain, but the betrayal was still there. Jaehwan was accusing Taekwoon with his eyes, and he hated every second of it. It hurt him to have Jaehwan looking at him that way. It hurt him to have the person he trusted most in the world beat him until he knew that there would be bruises to prove what happened. It hurt him to be slowly losing Jaehwan because of his own decisions.
"Jae...hwan..." Taekwoon had tripped over his own feet until his back hit the wall, knocking the breath out of him. "I'm so...so sorry..." Taekwoon's voice cracked, and before he knew it, the tears he had been fighting to keep back spilled over and flowed down his face. He flinched when Jaehwan slammed his fist into the wall right by his head.
"I hate you...so much..." Taekwoon was surprised to hear that Jaehwan sounded as broken as he felt. "But I can't hate you...I can't ing hate you, no matter how much I want to! It's because I can't hate you that I'm talking to you again, even though I promised I wouldn't! I was trying so hard to stay mad at you. You...you're such a selfish, undeserving bastard that I...I just can't bring myself to hate...I hate myself for letting the things you said get to me so easily, and I hate myself for talking to you again, but...I just...I can't live without you, Taekwoon. I feel empty without you being right by me, but you. you so much for putting all the blame on me! Not all of this is my fault! You have to take some blame! Don't make me suffer through this alone....don't make me go through this without you..." Jaehwan bit his lip and stared at his fist that was still firmly placed on the wall. He let it drop to Taekwoon's shoulder, and he continued talking, but he was whispering his time. "You're supposed to be my best friend, right? Please...start acting like it again...please let us be normal with each other again..."
"Jaehwan...I'm so sorry..." Taekwoon paused to take a shaky breath. "If you'd just forgive me..."
"I forgave you a long time ago, dammit!" Jaehwan was suddenly pulling Taekwoon into a hug, and Taekwoon let out a small laugh.
"It's kind of funny...it's usually me...comforting you..." Taekwoon let his arms circle around Jaehwan's waist, and he buried his face in the space between Jaehwan's neck and shoulder.
"You're an idiot, Taekwoon." Jaehwan tightened his arms around Taekwoon's shoulders. "Because of you, things are gonna get worse."
"I know, but it's ok. We'll face everything together." Taekwoon smiled, but Jaehwan didn't see it. "I promise."
Jaehwan slowly moved back enough to look Taekwoon in the eyes, and both of them allowed their arms to fall to their sides. Taekwoon knew what was coming next. Jaehwan's eyes always shone a certain way at this time, but Taekwoon never really noticed how pretty they looked when they did. Hesitantly, Jaehwan held out his hand, and Taekwoon watched him curl all of his fingers except his pinky.
"Do you pinky-promise?" Jaehwan stretched his pinky a little more to meet Taekwoon's halfway.
"I pinky-promise." Taekwoon was glad to have Jaehwan's pinky linked with his, just like when they were younger.
Instead of letting go after unlinking their pinkies, Jaehwan caught Taekwoon's hand and held it. Taekwoon let him, and he was rewarded with a smile. It was the extremely bright smile that lit up Jaehwan's entire face. It was Taekwoon's favorite smile. Taekwoon smiled back, but he knew that his was dim compared to best friend's.
Taekwoon tried his best to ignore how perfectly his hand fit with Jaehwan's.
A/N: Everyone is happy, yes? Well, Jaehwan did punch Taekwoon a little...(a lot), but let's forget that for now. So, that just kind of happened. No matter how I typed out this chapter, it always ended up with them making up, so I gave up on the angst and let them make up. For now. >.> *cough*
So...anyway...SHOUTOUT TIME.
Much love~
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