Matchmaker's Competition

Word Count: 2335

Jisoo didn’t have many friends. It’s not that he was a horrible person or he didn’t want more; he was incredibly friendly. It’s just he was scared that people would judge him for not having the best Korean. Sure, he had Korean blood flowing through him, but living in America for most of his life had taken it’s toll on him, so he tended to stay with Junhui and Hansol, who kind of understood his predicament.

Hansol was occasionally bullied for being mixed, which was unreasonable because his mixed blood only made him more attractive, in Jisoo’s opinion. No, Jisoo did not love Hansol. Hansol was just one of his closest friends.

Junhui, on the other hand, was from China, and was still struggling to learn Korean. Considering the length of time Junhui had been in South Korea, Jisoo was jealous that Junhui had picked up the language so fast. Jisoo had tended to avoid using Korean back in America because he figured he would never need it and ended up regretting it when he moved to South Korea at the age of 14. That didn’t mean Jisoo came to South Korea knowing no Korean; he was just a bit out of practice and it lacked a natural flow. In a way, he was lucky to meet Hansol, who spoke both Korean and English. Hansol was his next door neighbour and the two quickly became friends.

Luckily, despite not attending the same school for the first couple of years, Jisoo wasn’t lonely. During his first couple days, Jisoo found himself paired up with Junhui quite a lot, as the two were both struggling at socialising with the others in their class. It was awkward between the two, at first, but they quickly managed to sympathise with each other on their lack of Korean speaking skills.

Jisoo also eventually found himself hanging out with a boy named Chan, who Junhui often hung out with at dance club. Chan was nice. He respected them, even if they sometimes mispronounced something or used the wrong word or phrase. Chan explained, when they first met, that most of the other members of dance club were too troublesome and that Junhui was chill so he was cool to hang out with, as he knew he wouldn’t end up being dragged to some underage drinking party. It wasn’t like the others were underage drinking, it’s just that they joked about it a lot and Chan was scared that one day, they would go through with it. Jisoo knew from that moment, it was his duty to keep Chan innocent and pure and to do that, he needed to make sure Chan was never entirely alone with Junhui, as Junhui may teach Chan the wonders of making out.

The two went through alot together. Jisoo was content with everything. He was single, he had the greatest two friends in the world, his anime collection was growing and he was in the top 5 for school grades. He was happy with his life, until he met Jeonghan.

Jeonghan transferred in their third year. From there, Jeonghan quickly befriended Seungcheol and most of his friends. Jeonghan was like an angel, in appearance at least, but looks can be deceiving and Jeonghan was a perfect example of that. He fell in love with Seungcheol, something that wasn’t his fault. Seungcheol was incredible, after all. However, Seungcheol looked at him and everyone else differently to Jihoon. Jeonghan wanted to be Jihoon. He needed to replace him, if he even stood a chance at dating Seungcheol. He started getting to the cafeteria earlier to sit by Seungcheol. He started walking to and from school with Seungcheol, distracting Seungcheol from going to make sure Jihoon actually attended school. Jihoon had a tendency to lose track of time. Jeonghan claimed that just texting or calling Jihoon should be enough and Seungcheol believed him. Jeonghan tried to appear even more beautiful, dying his hair different colours to stand out, not realising that Jihoon used to do the same thing, but for different reasons. Jeonghan’s plan ended with a confession to Seungcheol.

“Seungcheolie!” Jeonghan smiled, holding the other’s hands. “I love you.” He looked him deep in the eyes. “Will you go out with me?”

Seungcheol smiled, “Sure. I would love to.” Jeonghan didn’t know about Seungcheol’s inability to turn someone down, but he didn’t need to because in a way, Seungcheol was his and he had beaten Jihoon, in an unknown battle. However, Seungcheol still wasn’t his. Seungcheol’s eyes still drifted to Jihoon and he was still spending more time with Jihoon than with Jeonghan. He needed to get Jihoon to back off. He needed to let Jihoon know that Seungcheol was his, not Jihoon’s. He started arranging to meet up with Seungcheol more. He started walking him to and from lessons and taking him to and from work. He made sure that he kissed Seungcheol, when Jihoon was watching. He knew it was working. Even if Jihoon wouldn’t admit it, he could see it was affecting him. Jeonghan felt relief in knowing, Jihoon knew that he was losing. Jeonghan was finally winning.

Everything was going well, until he met Jisoo.

Jisoo was there to spy keep an eye on Hansol’s date and Jeonghan was on his way to meet Seungcheol at the end of Seungcheol’s shift. Jeonghan had entered the cafe and noticed Seungcheol was still working. He made his way to the counter, sending Seungkwan, who was on his way out, a quick smile. He reached the counter, waving at Junhui and noticing the two boys to his side.

He went to introduce himself, but one of the boys beat him to it. “I’m Jisoo, Jun’s friend.” Jisoo bowed, smiling. Jeonghan found himself lingering on Jisoo’s cat like eyes. They were enchanting, as if they were casting a spell on Jeonghan. Jeonghan shook his head. He had a boyfriend.

“I’m Jeonghan. I occasionally wind up hanging out with Junhui.” Jeonghan bowed back. It wasn’t a lie. While Jeonghan didn’t attend dance club like most of the others, because it required too much effort, Junhui hung out with them on rare occasions. An example of an occasion, is to roast Seungkwan when needed.

“I’m Chan, I attend dance club with Jun!” Chan beamed. Truthfully, Jeonghan had forgotten about Chan.

“Ah, you’re the young one that Seungcheol occasionally mention!” Jeonghan realised. “Ah! You’re so cute! Can I adopt you? Say your Jeonghanie’s baby! Go on!” Jeonghan grinned.

“Careful, you might end up in a war with Jisoo over that.” Junhui pointed out.

“I don’t care! I must adopt him!” Jeonghan defended. “Who’s baby are you?” He grabbed Chan by the shoulders to keep him from escaping.

Chan apologised to Jisoo through his eyes, before saying, “Jeonghanie’s baby!” Jisoo sho