Part 3 - Chapter 20
I Wanna Love20
Niel pressed his face into his pillow. He wanted to melt into the mattress and never reappear. He wanted to live in his bed. It was comfortable and warm and didn’t set him up on dates he didn’t want anyway. His bed also didn’t stand him up in the cold. It was so embarrassing to be stood up, not to mention completely insulting. The guy hadn’t even bothered to call and explain. Niel snarled into the pillow and pulled his doona over his head. He was going back to sleep.
He was trying to go back to sleep. His phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
Niel ignored it. It was either Byunghun, Chanhee or his absentee date and Niel didn’t want to talk to any of them.
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Changhyun clicked away on his computer. Jonghyun was on the phone in the bedroom, from his raised voice something had gone wrong the night before.
His game finished loading. It was time to murder some noobs on the internet. He grinned in a viciously cute way.
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Byunghun called Niel once more. He still refused to answer the phone. He climbed the stairs of the apartment building slowly, a heavy brick of guilt settled in his stomach. He called Niel again. Still no answer. Something had certainly gone wrong.
He paused outside Niel’s door, raising a hand to knock loudly as he and Chanhee always did. After a moment he reconsidered, using his key instead.
As he entered he realised his instincts were right. Niel’s prize possession, the coat he had saved for weeks for, was scrunched up on the floor as though it had been thrown down in a rage. Byunghun stooped and picked it up, trying to flatten out the wrinkles a little. He laid it over the arm of the couch.
“Niel?” He called tentatively. There was no answer.
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“Hyung! I cannot believe you did this!” Jonghyun was almost yelling down the phone.
“I’m sorry, Jonghyun. Scout called. I had to take it.” Minsu’s voice was even, no trace of actual remorse.
“Hyung!” Jonghyun groaned in pain, putting a hand to his head, “Byunghun is going to murder me. How could you do this?”
“As if I’d let anyone murder you. Just tell him it was all my fault.” Minsu reasoned.
“You didn’t even say anything! That poor guy got stood up!” Jonghyun continued his scolding as though he hadn’t heard Minsu. “I can’t believe you!”
“Yeah. I am sorry about that. I was in a hurry.”
Jonghyun could have sworn Minsu was shrugging nonchalantly. He groaned with frustration.
“Hyuuuung.” He hung his head, there was nothing he could do now. The damage was done.
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Chanhee was tidying. Byunghun had shouted quite a lot the night before. And unfortunately, Chanhee couldn’t help but laugh at him, which made Byunghun yell more. They had called a truce as they went to bed. Chanhee apologising in the dark of the bedroom, Byunghun growling that he could live with pink hair so it was ok.
This morning though Byunghun had taken off to see Niel early and Chanhee was using the opportunity to clean the apartment. When Byunghun got home Chanhee would fix his hair for him. He couldn’t help it, sometimes ideas just took hold of him and he had to see it through. It rarely ended this badly though.
Chanhee grinned to himself as he extracted the vacuum from the closet; Byunghun’s hair looked so good.
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Minsu bore his scolding with a casual indifference. What was done was done. He couldn’t go back and change his choice. He wouldn’t even if he could. Being a DJ meant more to him than some guy he had been set up with.
When Jonghyun was finished yelling he said a terse “Goodbye” and hung up. Minsu shrugged. He looked around his little apartment and sighed.
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