Sitting on his seat next to the window, looking at the cerulean hue of the sky, Wonwoo can’t help but let his mind wander aimlessly— somewhere far away; a place out of anyone's reach. He watched white puffy clouds drift in the sky freely. His thoughts suddenly returning back to the world, leading him to a current puzzle called Jisoo.

“Hey” a familiar voice greeted

Wonwoo sighed, thinking that it’s starting to become Jisoo’s habit to bother him when he’s thinking about… him. 

Just like yesterday.

“Damn.” He muttered to himself, not intending for Jisoo to hear but

“Ouch, and here I thought I was just being nice to my best friend by greeting him, but looks like my presence is not wanted.” Joshua pouts, he was about to walk away when Wonwoo immediately grabbed his wrist, stopping him from leaving. Wonwoo can hear Joshua muttering something under his breath, the younger could've sworn he caught the words “sulking” and “ungrateful.”

“I didn’t mean you.” He tightened his hold on the elder's wrist not to hurt him, but to reassure him.

“Look at me, Jisoo” Wonwoo doesn't call Jisoo as hyung because the latter insisted that it made him feel old and that he feels comfortable enough around Wonwoo to not be too formal with one another 

“Joshua” the latter corrected, sounding a bit pissed

“Okay, Joshua.” Wonwoo ignored the rude interruption, way too focused on apologizing “now, will you please look at me?” he gently tugged at his wrist to catch his attention

The older boy slowly turned towards him. Wonwoo tried to look in the other’s eyes to search for any sign of hurt but instead of finding what he intended to look for, his eyes caught something unusual. Wonwoo felt his blood run cold when he recognized the other signs as well. He forgot that he was holding onto Joshua’s wrist tightly

“Ow! Wonwoo, could you please let go of my wrist? You’re hurting me.”

Wonwoo immediately let go as if he got burned

“What’s wrong with you?” Joshua looks peeved now, huffing because of Wonwoo's behavior 

Wonwoo stared at him in disbelief, as if he should be the one asking that question. Wonwoo felt betrayed even if he has no right to feel that way.

“What happened to your lips?” Wonwoo's face shifted into his usual stoic face, voice cold as an ice

Joshua’s eyes widened a little, he knew he was caught.

“None of your business”

“And when was it not my business when it concerns you?”

“You’re not my mother, Wonwoo.”

“If you don’t like getting scolded then please have the decency to properly cover those bruises, Joshua.” Wonwoo refrained himself from saying "hickies" out loud in an academic environment, especially with their classmates around 

They were silent for a while when Wonwoo decided to ask the dreadful question, “who did those to you?”

“Seungcheol” Joshua admitted without a bat of an eyelash, to say that Wonwoo was shocked is an understatement— he's flabbergasted! But Wonwoo kept his stoic facade intact. 

Seungcheol? What? Why? These questions flooded Wonwoo’s mind. His initial suspect was Junhui because Wonwoo’s sure that Joshua likes the man even if he didn’t tell him yet. Wonwoo would've been okay if it was Junhui because he knows for a fact that there would be enough reasons to support such (indecent) act. But Seungcheol? That was a shock! Seungcheol is Joshua's roommate and he made it clear that his relationship with him was entirely platonic! Jisoo would never do something intimate with someone whom he respects, let alone was it in Jisoo's nature to engage in such activities. Nothing's adding up.

An eerie silence fell between them, the tension was too thick that anybody could cut it with a knife.

Wonwoo’s trying to piece things together. Nothing made sense. Nothing is making any sense since yesterday.  

“When did you change? Did I miss anything?” Wonwoo hissed in utter disappointment, he doesn’t know why exactly he’s being harsh to his bestfriend

It’s jealousy. A tiny voice whispered in the back of his mind

Joshua looked at him straight in the eye, anger replacing stubbornness “I did not change. Everybody has a different side that nobody knows. Sometimes, you would even need a mirror just to know who you really are.” Wonwoo’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion while Joshua’s face became impassive. Wonwoo’s having a hard time reading Joshua’s expression; he never had this kind of problem before.

The bell rang, signaling that the class is about to start. Joshua let out a sigh before walking away. Wonwoo cannot help but think that Joshua did not only walk away for the time being, but also walked out of his life altogether.

Their classmates watched in silence, too shocked that Wonwoo and Joshua just had an argument. Wonwoo didn't notice them, too lost in his own thoughts, feelings scattered in a pile of mess.

Wonwoo felt dread set in.

When the class got dismissed, Joshua quickly grabbed his bag to leave as soon as possible as not to give Wonwoo any chance to talk to him. He left Wonwoo without even a single glance. Joshua felt suddenly angry because he felt like Wonwoo’s trying to control him. Joshua didn’t like it at all because all this time, he lived only as a reflection of Jisoo. He used to not have the freedom that’s now currently in his grasp. Joshua will live his life the way he wants to and nobody can stop him from doing so. Not even Wonwoo.  

He is different from Jisoo. He is Joshua. He is Joshua Hong.

He will prove it. He will get rid of Hong Jisoo as soon as possible. He will live this life.

Joshua tightened his grip on his bag. Right, I still have club activities to attend to. Taking his mind off things, he forced his legs to move and head to the clubroom.  

"There can only be one, and it's not going to be you, Jisoo."