Author 

Joon immediately stood up when the doctor went out of the operating room. 

“Jung, GO’s family?” the doctor asked and Joon immediately went near him. 

“I’m not family but I’m his friend. The police called me when they found him. Is… is he alright?” Joon asked, worry filled him. 

“Your friend was lucky he was wearing his seatbelt. It might have been a different case otherwise. We had to make sure his organs weren’t damaged. His neck also received damage due to the airbag. He’s still under observation so he needs to stay in the hospital for a few days. If his condition gets worse we might need to re-operate.” The doctor said. 

Joon nodded his head and bowed before the doctor left. He bit his lower lip as he remembered the call he received earlier that night. 

“Hello, is this Lee, Joon?” 

“Yes.” Joon answered, puzzled. He looked at the screen and read that it was GO who was calling him. He put his phone back to his ear when he heard the man on the other line talk. 

“I’m from the Seoul Police Department and the man who owns this phone got into an accident. His car crashed with another car. There weren’t any serious damage to the other car but he continued driving and he hit a post. We’re sending him to the hospital and we suggest you get there as soon as you can.” 

“I-I’ll be on my way!” Joon answered, rushing into whatever clothing he could pull. 

“GO-hyung… what has gotten into you?” Joon whispered as he looked through the window of GO’s room. He called Mir to let him know that GO was in an accident. So he’s currently waiting for Mir to arrive. 

Joon sighed, still looking at GO from the window when he heard running footsteps approach him. He looked and was surprised to see Mir and Seungho together. 

“Why—” Joon started but Mir just ran past him and rushed into the room to hug GO. Mir looked horrified and for some reason he immediately cried on GO’s chest. 

Joon looked at Seungho with bitter eyes. At that moment, he realized why GO got into an accident. 

“What happened to him?” Seungho asked, oblivious to the hurt in Joon’s eyes. 

“He got into a car accident.” Joon answered, looking away from Seungho. 

Seungho sighed. “Doesn’t he know how to take care of himself? Did he drive while he’s drunk or something?” Seungho said with irritation in his voice. 

“I’m sure he does. But maybe things get out of hand when people get hurt.” Joon answered with anger. “And why were the two of you even together again? I thought you were supposed to attend a birthday party? You didn’t mention that you’d be with Mir.” Joon said. 

“Oh come on Joon! Are we starting with this argument again?” Seungho answered. 

Joon scoffed as he looked away. “You know what? Never mind. Just hang out with your best friend for as long as you like. As a matter of fact, you should just be with him... FOREVER!” Joon shouted at Seungho before he ran out of the hospital. He immediately hailed a taxi and begged to go to Cheondung’s house. 

The moment Joon tried to close the taxi’s door, Seungho stopped him and immediately pulled him out. “What has gotten into you?! Why are you acting out like this when someone’s life is in danger?!” Seungho shouted at Joon. 

“Does it bother you so much that I’m actually spending time with Mir?! Is he that much of a threat to you?!” Seungho shouted even more. Once he added this, Joon immediately looked at Seungho with tear-filled eyes. 

“YES! YES, IT BOTHERS ME SO DAMN MUCH THAT I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE I’M THE THIRD WHEEL IN WHATEVER’S GOING ON BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU!!! YOU ALWAYS SAY YOUR BEST FRIEND NEEDS YOU BUT YOU ALWAYS FORGET THAT I NEED YOU TOO! HE NEEDS YOU AND YOU ALWAYS GO TO HIM BECAUSE HE’S YOUR BEST FRIEND BUT I’M YOUR BOYFRIEND FOR ’S SAKE!!! I NEED YOU TOO! I’VE GIVEN UP EVERYTHING FOR YOU BUT YOU STILL RUN BACK TO YOUR BEST FRIEND EVERY CHANCE YOU GET! NO MATTER HOW MANY EMPTY PROMISES AND LIES YOU’VE SAID, I’VE ALWAYS FORGIVEN YOU!!!” Joon shouted back. All his bottled-up feeling burst forth and all he could do was shout at Seungho and cry. “But I can’t always give myself up and love you when you obviously don’t feel the same damn thing about me at all.” Joon said, with pain laced into these words. 

Seungho was taken aback, not thinking how much he had hurt Joon. It never occurred to him that Joon would be this bothered by his friendship with Mir. In fact, he thought Joon understood that Mir is like a brother to him. Heck, Mir is more like a little sister to him and he doesn’t understand why Joon thinks Mir is more important for him.  

Seungho’s silence angered Joon even more. Joon misunderstood it as a sign of agreement and Joon pushed Seungho away from the car door and slammed the door shut. The driver was glaring at him but he didn’t care, he commanded that the driver take off before Seungho could even open the door again. 

“Please drive away from here. I don’t care how much you want, just drive away from here. I’ll pay whatever you need!” Joon begged and the driver sped off. In Seungho’s shock he wasn’t able to run after the taxi anymore.  

Seungho bit his lips as he reached for his hair. He pulled it hard and screamed in agony. “DAMN IT!!!” Seungho shouted before hanging his head low and tears falling from his eyes. 

~~~***~~~ 

Author 

Cheondung immediately ran to the nearest bus stop near their place after hearing that Joon got in a massive fight with Seungho. The moment he had a glimpse of Joon, he ran faster and immediately hugged Joon. 

“Cheondung...” Joon sniffled. “Shhh… It’s gonna be ok.” Cheondung whispered as he heard Joon cry on his shoulder. “I was preparing soup for your hyung, would you like to stay over?” Cheondung asked. “Is he coming to your place tonight?” Joon asked in between sobs. 

“Don’t worry, we’ve got the house to ourselves tonight.” Cheondung assured. 

The moment Joon entered the house, he sat on the couch and immediately hugged his lags. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he sniffed a lot. Cheodnung was quite impressed that despite the fight, Joon wasn’t bawling.  

“Here.” Cheondung said, giving Joon a cup of hot water. Joon looked at it with lifeless eyes. “So what happened this time?” Cheondung asked seriously, in fact he seemed angry. 

“GO… GO got in an accident.” Joon said with a soft voice. Choendung asked Joon to repeat what he said and Choendung gasped when Joon repeated.  

“Is he ok? Is he…” Cheondung trailed off, hoping that GO was still alive.  

“He’s in the hospital under observation.” Joon said. “But you know what? He probably wanted to die.” Joon added. 

“Hey…” Cheondung said softly, holding on to Joon’s arm.  

“He texted me earlier… Asking me where Seungho was. And then he texted me Seungho’s plate number. At first I was completely surprised why he knew Seungho’s plate number but then I saw Seungho and Mir arrive in the hospital together. Maybe they were together again and GO just couldn't take it anymore and hoped to just… disappear.” Joon said. 

Cheondung sighed. “You guys are so insane. I don’t understand why you’d want to die just because your other half is a cheater. You shouldn’t sacrifice yourself for those kinds of people. I know I say it like it’s so easy but I’ve been in a relationship with people who cheated on me too. And I moved on because I wanted to remove them from my life. I wanted a better life. A life without people like them that’s why I moved on. I know it’s different when you’re the one in that position because let’s be honest… we’re eternally stupid once we let our hearts run free. But that’s’ why we also have to put into account our heads… our minds. We weren’t made of meat alone, we were made with bones as well.” Cheondung said.  

“yah… what are you talking about with the bones and meat?” Joon asked, looking at Cheondung as if he had two heads. 

“What I mean is that we also need foundation in our relationships. Without bones, do you think our body would be able to move or stand or do anything at all? Of course not. That’s why we also have a brain despite having a heart because we need to think before we act. Emotions are there to either help us rise or fall.” Cheondung explained.  

Joon bit his lower lip, thinking about Cheondung’s words. He leaned his forehead on his arms and hugged his legs tighter. 

Just then, someone suddenly knocked on the door. 

“Cheondung!” the voice boomed and the two suddenly flinched. The both looked at each other before looking at the door. 

“Omo… he wasn’t supposed to come today…” Cheondung whispered to Joon. They both stood up and Joon immediately ran to hide in Cheondung’s room. Cheondung went to the door and opened it once Joon was already hiding. 

“oh Jihoon—” Cheondung started but Jihoon immediately went past him and entered the house in search of something or someone. 

“Jihoon-ah…” Cheondung called out but Jihoon looked serious while searching. And then when he tried to open Cheondung’s door, it was locked.  

“Joon, open the door.” Jihoon suddenly said. Cheondung’s eyes widened when he heard Jihoon call out for Joon. “Jihoon, Joon isn’t here.” Cheondung said but Jihoon repeated what he said. 

“Joon… Seungho… he called me.” Jihoon started. Cheondung and Joon were surprised with what they heard. “He told me that you both got into a fight and he’s currently searching for you.” Jihoon added. “I honestly wanted to get mad at him but he immediately apologized for not knowing your true feelings and for hurting you all the time. He says he will accept any punishement I had for him.” Jihoon continued. 

“Jihoon-ah… Please don’t tell me you said something crazy.” Cheondung said. 

“I told him to break up with you as his punishment.” Jihoon said. Cheondung gasped while Joon covered his mouth in shock. “He said that if that’s what Joon wanted, then he’ll agree. But he wants to talk to Joon before he gets punished.” Jihoon said. 

“All I need to know from you is if you still want to talk to him. Whether you do or you don’t, it’ll still end up with that kind of punishment. So think about it Joon. I’ve given him plenty of chances to take care of you and all he’s ever done is hurt you.” Jihoon said.  

“I know this is your relationship and that I shouldn't even have a say on the matter. But just because this isn’t my relationship doesn’t mean you aren’t my brother. Before accepting anyone into our family, I want to make sure that they’re capable of taking care of you. That they’re capable of loving you. That they’re capable of being there when I’m not. I’ve seen you struggle through this entire relationship and I can’t even look at Seungho without wanting to kill him. You might be able to forgive him over and over but just because you’re drowning yourself in love it doesn’t mean I cant pull you out and snap you back to reality.” Jihoon added before turning his back to the door and facing Cheodnung who was looking at him full of worry. 

“Doongie… Please take care of him for me.” Jihoon said, reaching out to Cheondung and hugging him. “I don’t know what else to do… so please take care of him.” Jihoon whispered before kissing Choendung. 

“Don’t worry… I will. He is my best friend after all.” Cheondung said, giving Jihoon a smile. 

Just before Jihoon could leave the house, Joon ran towards him and grabbed his arm. 

“hyung…” Joon called out. “I… I wanna talk to Seungho.” Joon said. 

Jihoon enveloped Joon in his arms and sighed.  

~~~***~~~