"You really think he likes me?"

"Hakyeon, you sound like a schoolgirl."

"Hyukkie," he groaned, wanting to hit him. "I'm serious." It had been a little over a week now of Taekwoon's daily visits, and the shy boy barely left his mind.

Sanghyuk grinned, gripping the countertop so he could push himself up to sit on it. "Would he come in every day to see you if he didn't?" he asked pointedly, swinging his legs in a playful manner.

"But maybe he only likes me as a friend."

"Why does he blush when you compliment him and say cute stuff then?"

"He's really shy."

Sanghyuk shook his head, clicking his tongue scoldingly. "Negativity. You're not going to steal his heart with that attitude, honey," he chided.

Hakyeon turned around, leaning forward onto the counter and staring at the door like usual. His bottom lip was pushed out in a pout, and his eyebrows were furrowed to pair with it. "I often have to remind myself of the reason I go to you, of all people, for advice about this kind of stuff," he grumbled wistfully, turning his gaze to watch the pink sunset sky out the window.

Sanghyuk snorted. "Which is what?"

"You have a boyfriend, so you must be doing something right. As surprising as that is."

"Well, you're quite the ray of sunshine today," Sanghyuk noted sarcastically, playing with the fabric of his skinny jeans. "Do you not think I'm hot?"

"You wish."

"I'm offended. And also taken, smart ."

Just as Hakyeon was about to fire another retort, he spotted the reason of his distress walking by outside. The soft rosy light of the evening sky complimented his features so perfectly that his ethereality momentarily distracted Hakyeon from the question, what was he doing here so late?

The doors swung open slowly, making the chimes above them jingle very quietly, and in walked Taekwoon. Hakyeon just blinked, and the air was quiet as Taekwoon smiled shyly at him.

The pleasant moment was then promptly (and unsurprisingly) ruined by Sanghyuk, who, in an obnoxiously loud voice, called out, "What are you doing here so late, Chinese Taekout? You were here earlier."

Taekwoon walked over tentatively, ducking his head at yet another nickname. (It'd been an interesting week; a new cheesy title for each day. And this was the second one today, God love him.)

But, flying in to his rescue, Hakyeon turned around, walking over and hitting Sanghyuk on the head fairly aggressively (which, mind you, he'd been wanting to do for hours). "If you make up one more stupid nickname, I swear-"

"I'm just having some fun. Geez, mom."

Taekwoon giggled under his breath as he came up to the counter. Hakyeon spun back around to face him again, and his curious look returned. "Wait...you are here for the second time today," he realized out loud.

Taekwoon nodded, looking back behind him and grabbing a chair. He pulled it up to the counter, plopping down in the seat.

"How come?"

He looked at his knees, just shaking his head.

"It's embarrassing."

"If you don't want to tell me, that's okay," Hakyeon assured him sweetly.

"But I wanna know!" Sanghyuk exclaimed from his spot on the counter, now kicking his feet like a discontent child, banging against the cabinets.

"I will hit you again. And this time I'll be less merciful."

"I'll help him," Taekwoon chimed in.

"Oh, look who's starting to discover his sassy side," Sanghyuk pointed out, sounding impressed. He slid onto his feet again, trotting over to lean into the counter next to Hakyeon. "I didn't think you had it in you," he added, ruffling his hair playfully. Hakyeon frowned at him, jealousy sizzling slightly in his lungs and a look in his eyes that seemed to say, don't touch him. Sanghyuk pretended not to see it, but was laughing internally because as if he didn't. Taekwoon watched the scene uncomfortably, shifting in his seat.

Hakyeon cleared his throat, breaking the odd silence. "Anyways," he said, "You know what we should do?" Taekwoon blinked at him expectantly. "We should exchange numbers. Then we can talk whenever we want," he explained, smiling brightly.

Taekwoon nodded enthusiastically, taking his phone out of his pocket and handing it to Hakyeon. The older accepted it, and with the other hand did the same, handing his own phone to Taekwoon. Their hands brushed as they switched, and there was a moment of skipped heartbeats, "like in some cheesy romance anime," Sanghyuk would later add.

They jerked back, each other's devices in hand, and their stares flicked down to the screens. Their fingers tapped away, and soon enough they were both each other's contacts (Hakyeon definitely, definitely did not put a heart emoji next to Taekwoon's name).

"See? Now you can call or text me whenever you want," he declared cheerily. Taekwoon beamed up at him, eyes shining. "Yeah," he mumbled, mouth barely moving in his expression of mesmerization.

Hakyeon's face lit up with amusement. "Are you starting to fall for me?" he teased, smile dripping with mirth. Taekwoon's own smile fizzled out as his mouth dropped open slightly, cheeks dusted pink.

"That's some confidence you've got there," he spluttered, trying (and utterly failing) to feign smoothness. Hakyeon just laughed at him, and he pouted.

Hakyeon leaned forward onto his elbows, his laugh dying down. "Hey, I'm sorry," he said, tone warm. Taekwoon slowly lifted his head up. In his gradual return to the eye contact though, he caught sight of something odd scraping across the skinny arm resting on the counter in front of him. His face contorted. His stare lingered for too long.

"Hakyeon?" he asked timidly, too curious to feel the fluffy feeling it gave him to say his name. His eyes were locked on the strange mark. "What is this?"

Hakyeon looked down, and his arm flinched. "That's...a long story," he responded, moving it behind the counter, and Taekwoon would like to think he imagined the way his older friend faltered.

It was silent for a moment. Not even Sanghyuk spoke, oddly enough, and there was something so uncomfortably cold about it.

"Oh, okay. I have to go," Taekwoon stuttered quickly after it passed, standing with a wobble of his knees and his cheeks heating up. He felt unwelcome all of a sudden, like he was being shut out, and being the person he was, he began to flee the second the feeling began to eat at him.

Hakyeon was stunned by the sudden action, and found himself unable to even say goodbye before Taekwoon was already gone.

"What in the hell was that all about?" Sanghyuk scoffed, glancing over at Hakyeon.

"I don't know," he replied, his wide eyes drifting down to the scar that intruded the beautifully tan skin on his forearm.

"I don't know," he repeated under his breath.

*****

"I'm gonna go take a shower," Hakyeon informed him indifferently, and Wonshik tried to smile at him before he left. Something was off about him tonight, and he wished he could help, but he seemed to be in one of those moods where it was best to just leave him be.

Hakyeon's bare feet trudged onto the cold tiles, a chill running through him. He flinched. Why was it so cold in here? With a sigh, he tossed his pajamas onto the floor (the super fluffy ones that Wonshik used to poke fun at him for holding onto) and began to strip.

Today, however, for the first time in a long, long while, his eyes were fixed on the mirror, and he just stared at his body. His scars seemed to jump out at him, as if they would launch themselves out of his reflection and attack him. It was just the way he'd seen them back in high school.

Don't look at yourself this way. You're happy now. You have Taekwoon, Wonshik, and Sanghyuk all by your side now. They can't hurt you anymore. Scars. That's all they are.

He opened the glass door and stepped in, turning on the hot water and shaking the thoughts from his mind. The memories.

Scars. That's all they were.

---

oh

I hope you liked it guysss <3 See you soon! c: