Chapter 31- Back To School

“I…er…actually kinda…knew that…” Wonwoo said, pacing around the room. Jun froze. He expected Wonwoo to freak out and go into another attack. But he was wrong. But how? How did Wonwoo know? Was he that obvious?

“Ahh…was I that obvious…” Jun winced as his voice came out shaky. Wonwoo looked up, as he walked towards Jun.

“Y-yeah…actually you were…but I thought that if I kept pretending like I didn’t know anything…you would move on…” Wonwoo said, making pauses in between his sentences.

“I tried…but I…couldn’t…Hah…I’m such a fool…” Jun sighed as he sat on the ground. Wonwoo sat next to him, placing his hand on the other’s shoulder. The two sat in silence, neither one knew what to say.

“So…where do we…go from here…?” Jun asked, the question coming out almost as a whisper.

“Can’t we act…like we usually do? As good friends?” Wonwoo asked, as he gulped. He knew it was too much to ask from Jun and he wouldn’t blame the other if he said no. How do you expect someone to continue being friends after finding out that they actually like you? That would be cruel. But Wonwoo had too much to handle currently. There was Mingyu, then suddenly Sejun pops out of nowhere. Now Jun?

“O-okay…let’s try that…but. Promise me we won’t be awkward?” Jun asked, as he stood up. Wonwoo nodded his head before bumping his fist with Jun. At least one thing was off his mind for now.

“So. Can you now tell your best friend what happened yesterday?” Jun asked as he plopped his body on Wonwoo’s bed. Wonwoo knew Jun was trying so hard to act like he’s fine when he’s not. But he didn’t want to expose the other and make him feel awkward. Wonwoo sighed. If Jihoon was protective, Jun was probably 1.5 times worse. Wonwoo knew how jealous Jun got back in middle school when he first befriended Sejun.

“I-its just…S-se…J-jun…he’s…back.” Wonwoo closed his eyes, ready for Jun to explode in anger. And he did.

“WHAT THE FLYING ? THAT BASTARD IS BACK? What for?! Where the hell did you see him?! Did he do anything to you? Oh my god! I swear to god Jeon Wonwoo. Why didn’t you call me immediately? .” Jun screamed, pacing around the room. Wonwoo just sat there, not knowing what to do. He couldn’t stop Jun because he was too agitated at the moment and nothing would make sense to him. He just had to wait for Jun to calm down on his own before they can talk about something. All of a sudden, Jun started looking for something in Wonwoo’s room. And the owner was rather confused and caught off guard. What is he doing? What is he even looking for? Wonwoo didn’t remember Jun leaving any of his belongings behind.

“I knew it. You still kept this stupid cursed bear here. What is wrong with you? He probably came back because you still have this stupid stuffed toy!” Jun shouted as he pulled out a stuffed bear out of Wonwoo’s cupboard. Wonwoo’s eyebrows were scrunched together. What the…how did he even know that I hid that in there?! What is he even talking about?!!

“Jun-ah. You know you’re not making any sense to me right now right? What has this stuffed toy got to do with him coming back?” Wonwoo laughed. It was funny how Jun can come up with such weird theories.

“YAH! It isn’t funny Jeon Wonwoo! God damn it!” Jun said as he punched the poor stuffed toy in its face.

“Hey! The toy is innocent! Don’t do that to Junnie…” Wonwoo whined, trying to pry the toy out of Jun’s grasp.

“You even named the toy?! What the Jeon?!!” Jun exclaimed, looking at Wonwoo in disbelief. Wonwoo hurriedly kept the stuffed toy back to where it was initially before chasing Jun out of his room.

“You’re over reacting…” Wonwoo said, dragging Jun along the hallways. Jun, the stronger one stopped and entered Jihoon’s room. He couldn’t believe what Wonwoo was saying, and he needed backup.

“Yo. Jihoon. Your brother here. Is nuts. He still has that god damn toy that the bastard gave him years ago.” Jun rolled his eyes, sitting down on Jihoon’s bed.

“First of all. You have no god damn manners Moon Jun Hui. Second of all. The soft toy is innocent. So it’s fine for him to keep it.” Jihoon said, crossing his arms. Wonwoo clapped at Jihoon’s speech, shooting Jun a ‘I told you so’ look.

“I knew Wonwoo wouldn’t be that smart to come up with such a speech to go against me. It was you. Jihoon. You taught him to say all these didn’t you?” Jun asked, shooting Wonwoo a look.

“Well…I agree that Wonwoo isn’t smart enough. But I think he is old enough to think and do what he thinks is right. You know. I’ve thought about it. We need to stop babying Wonwoo. He needs to learn to stand up and help himself…” Jihoon said. Wonwoo widened his eyes at that. Did Jihoon really just said that?

“But obviously he still can’t do it himself. I mean…look what happened yesterday.” Jun retorted, before he regretted what he just said. Wonwoo was taken aback and Jihoon looked like he was about to kick Jun’s out of the house.

“H-hey guys…you know I didn’t mean what I just said. I j-just-” Jun was about to explain himself but got interrupted.

“Yeah Jun I think you gotta go to work. Gonna be late aren’t you. We won’t show you to the door. Bye.” Jihoon shoved Jun out of his room before going over to Wonwoo.

“Hey…you know…he didn’t mean it right?” Jihoon said, patting Wonwoo back gently. The older smiled sadly, nodding his head.

“And I meant it what I said just now. I’ll stop babying you from now on…it’s probably my fault why you’re in this state now…” Jihoon said, sitting down back in his chair.

“Jihoon-ah…it’s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault. Blame it all on my brain…always failing me when I need it…” Wonwoo said, gently knocking his head. Jihoon rolled his eyes, making Wonwoo grin.

“Are you feeling well enough to go back to school tomorrow?” Jihoon asked, looking at Wonwoo. Even though it had only been a few hours, but he looked much better. He just needed a bit more rest and things to do to keep his mind away from thinking about Sejun. Wonwoo nodded at the question. He whipped out his phone and saw messages from Mingyu. Duh. Who else would message him right?

From: PupGyu

Hey. I assume you’re not going to work today right? Since you’re not feeling well… -1.58pm

It’s my first day of work today…just when I thought we could go to work together… :( -1.58pm

To: PupGyu

Oh? It’s your first day of work? Well then. Good luck I guess. -2.27pm

Don’t worry. The people there are really nice! -2.27pm

From: PupGyu

I’m already having difficulties…it’s so hard to be a barista… -2.28pm

To: PupGyu

Don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it soon! -2.30pm

“Jihoon-ah. You wanna drop by the café? We can have lunch there!” Wonwoo asked, looking up from his phone.

“But I’m kinda lazy…” Jihoon said, not looking away from his computer.

“Comeeee onnnnnn~ Let’s go!” Wonwoo whined, pulling Jihoon by his arm. The shorter had no choice but to give in and the two left for the café. As they entered the café, Joshua greeted them happily.

“Oh?! Wonwoo-ah! Are you feeling much better now? Hey Jihoon! It’s been some time since I last saw you!” Joshua greeted. The two sat at the seat near the window after Joshua took their orders.

“So…what happened to you? I heard that the two of you didn’t attend school today.” Joshua asked, taking a seat across the two. Jihoon looked at Wonwoo, who contemplated about what he was going to tell Joshua.

“Won?! What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming to work today? Are you feeling better? Something about you feels wrong…are you okay?” Mingyu shot questions as he brought their drinks to the table.

“Ah…Jihoon and I wanted to drop by and see how you were doing on your first day. Did you break anything yet?” Wonwoo joked. Mingyu’s expression changed from a worried