The Trouble in the All Seeing Eye

Word Count: 1748

Soonyoung’s first proper meeting with Jihoon occurred in the cafe that Jihoon’s father owned. Jihoon was filling in for an employee that had called in sick, even though, in theory, he was too young to be working there, but it didn’t stop him, and he provided good service so why would anyone dob him in? At first, Soonyoung just saw him as the cute, little kid who wanted to be a good boy and help his father, but that all changed after Soonyoung made his order.

“A cappuccino scuro, please.” Soonyoung smiled, hoping the kid would understand him and knew what he was doing.

Without even looking at the pricelist, Jihoon responded, “Ok $2.88, please.” He put his hand out and after a moment, Soonyoung handed the boy the money, watching as the boy put it in the till, before he went to begin making the coffee. “To go or staying in?”

“To go.” Soonyoung assured, before watching Jihoon get to work. In a way, Jihoon’s coffee skills were an artform. If Soonyoung could, he would watch Jihoon make coffee all day, but he had a dance club to attend.

“Thank you,” Soonyoung beamed, as Jihoon handed him the warm ceramic cup. He took a sip, before turning towards the exit. Just as he was about to leave, he glanced back at the boy. He was already serving another customer.

Soonyoung attended the coffee shop more after that and eventually, began to talk to Jihoon at school as well. He wasn’t sure whether he mistook his feelings of friendship as feelings of love, but one day, Soonyoung confessed to Jihoon.

“Jihoon.” Soonyoung called out his name, even though the boy was right in front of him and they were alone. He just liked the way Jihoon rolled off of his tongue. “I think I love you.”

“You think you love me?” Jihoon questioned.

“Well, no. I love you, but all these feelings are just a bit new to me and I’ve never liked anyone this much before.” He scratched his head.

“Are you sure this is love? I mean, you’re a great friend, but we’re like brothers. We argue way too often to be in love with each other, besides you deserve someone who will be able to keep up with your endless enthusiasm and understand all of your jokes. Soonyoung, you deserve someone who you’ll be able to smile alongside and I won’t be able to do any of those things. I can’t make you happy.” Jihoon was trying to subtly tilt Soonyoung towards Seokmin, who he had noticed had a red string that seemed to connect rather comfortably to Soonyoung, but at the same time he did not want to lose a friend. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to lose you as a friend, but I’m not the one for you and I think dip down, we both know that.” Jihoon could feel himself tensing up, he just hoped that he wouldn’t cry while he was still in front of Soonyoung. Soonyoung was one of his closest friends after Seungcheol and he didn’t want to lose him. It hurt Jihoon to know that he had broken his first heart.

“It’s ok, Jihoon.” Soonyoung sniffled, “I understand.” It hurt Jihoon even more to watch Soonyoung walk away, crying. It’s times like these, Jihoon is usually forced to be a shoulder to cry on, but knowing that wouldn’t be happening only filled him with a slight twinge of guilt. Later when Seungcheol would ask why he turned Soonyoung down, he would tell Seungcheol, Soonyoung belonged with someone else.

Of course, broken hearts and friendships aren’t easy to fix and a few weeks later, Soonyoung was still avoiding Jihoon and Jihoon was still desperate to reclaim his friend, so he convinced Seungcheol to introduce Soonyoung to Seokmin. It helped that Seungcheol was in quite a few lessons with Seokmin and knew him quite well, due to both of their abilities to make friends quickly. The real question was why hadn’t Seokmin hung out with them sooner.

Soonyoung and Seokmin bonded pretty quickly and things became pretty noisy at their lunch table, much to Jihoon’s self proclaimed annoyance, but even he secretly enjoyed the company, even if he would never admit it. It was a few weeks later, Soonyoung started coming to Jihoon and Seungcheol for relationship advice. Originally, Soonyoung’s plan was to ask Seungcheol, but Jihoon had been pretty clingy to Seungcheol recently, probably because he saw it coming.

“He’s just got such a nice smile. Literally, every time he smiles, it’s like the universe lights up. He’s like the sun.” Soonyoung rolled around Jihoon’s bed, messing it up.

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