“And this is the cafeteria,” Jooheon finishes up, waving his left arm out towards the room just left of them. Gunhee peeks in, a wide smile revealing a set of rounded teeth. Jooheon watches, doing his best to keep his gaze interested despite his wish to just go back home and crawl under the covers for a century. The bell rings out, echoing its tin little call throughout the hall. Kids immediately begin to file out of the nearby classrooms, pushing passed Gunhee and Jooheon in their rush to get food. 

“Wow,” Gunhee comments, shoving his hands into the pockets of his uniform blazer. “This school’s incredible… I’m honored to be able to come here.” Jooheon hums, glancing around.  

“It’s nice,” he relents. At Gunhee’s questioning glance, he quickly adds with a nervous chuckle, “You get pretty used to it after going here for three years, I guess.” 

“Dude,” Gunhee says, stepping closer so as to avoid being knocked into by the growing stream of kids, “this is awesome! There’s entire classes dedicated to all the different parts of music producing! This is exactly what I needed to work towards my dream." He pauses then, scooting even closer to Jooheon with a playful glint to his eye. "I'm planning on being a solo rapper once I'm out of here..." Jooheon's eyebrows shoot up despite his general disinterest concerning the new boy, unable to fight off the instinct. 

"What?" Gunhee asks, puffing up his chest defiantly. "You think that's funny, or somethin'?" 

"N-No," Jooheon quickly assures him, more emotion in his voice than there's been the entire tour. "It's just, that's what I'm working for, too." Gunhee inhales sharply, an excited grin blazing across his features. 

"What are the odds!" he exclaims, earning a few curious glances from passersby. "This is great! You've got to show me what you're working on sometime. I'd love to see..." Jooheon hums, glancing away to avoid the slightly-older's piercing gaze. Something about the suggestion sit right with him, as if the other is trying to imply something... But, before he can figure it out, he spots a familiar group of boys rounding the corner, heading towards him like an oncoming storm. He gulps thickly, inwardly beginning to panic. 

He hasn't prepared himself for this yet! He isn't ready to face them all at once like this! And that's not even to mention how very much not ready he is for seeing the happy couple... 

“Heonney!” Minhyuk greets, propelling himself towards the younger. Jooheon catches his hyung with only a bit of fumbling, wondering how Hyunwoo could do something so easily. He guesses all those days weight-training must’ve done the older some good, after all. “You comin’ to eat lunch with us? Oh! Who’s this~?” As usual, the older is firing off multiple questions at once without giving Jooheon a chance to answer any of them. He used to think it endearing, but right now it just grates on his fragile nerves. 

“I’m Gunhee,” the boy beside him greets, giving a breathy laugh as he offers out a hand for Minhyuk to shake. The older takes it, humming thoughtfully as his gaze flicks between the two. Jooheon doesn’t understand the light to his eyes, something almost... knowing within them. But, knowing what? They’re literally just standing there.  

Stupid Minhyuk, Jooheon mentally grumbles, reading too much into literally anything you put in front of him...  

“You joining us for lunch, too?” Minhyuk asks, dropping his grip on Gun’s hand. He crosses his arms over his chest, pouting. “We have some empty seats now that the oldest of us have left...” Changkyun nods behind him, his eyes pain-stricken as he grips the strap of his messenger bag. Jooheon can’t help but huff out a breath, unable to find sympathy for either of the others... After all, they were lucky enough to find true love, and Jooheon just figures by now he’s destined to die alone. 

Without perfect, stupid, beautiful, amazing Kihyun, there’s no one left for him. That insipid, nauseating Hyungwon... Why did he have to lose Kihyun to that?  

“Yeah, sure... If, you know, that’s alright with Heon?” Jooheon feels the others’ eyes on him, and he gives a small, begrudging nod in reply. He wasn’t going to eat with them today, wasn’t going to eat with them for a while. He doesn’t think he can handle the constant reminder of his own failure of snatching Kihyun up when he had the chance... But, now, it seems he doesn’t have a choice. 

Minhyuk nods once, as if in victory, and starts to lead them all into the throng of the cafeteria. Changkyun follows, then Kihyun and Hyungwon pass, hand-in-hand. Kihyun offers the younger a sheepish smile as Jooheon falls in-step with the group to lead Gunhee around. 

“How’ve you been, Heonney?” Kihyun asks, his own nerves clear in his tone. “It’s been a while since we’ve talked.” 

“Haven’t had a lot to say,” Jooheon answers bluntly, shrugging a single shoulder. He shoves his hands into his pockets, eyes downcast on the grimy tiled floor. It’s amazing to him how this floor can be so dirty despite the daily cleanings the janitorial staff performs. 

“You feeling okay?” Hyungwon breaks in, his tone somewhat abrasive. Jooheon’s gaze snaps over, defiant. What the hell does this snide brat have to be mad about??? He got Kihyun, all Jooheon’s ever really wanted, so what the is his problem??? What else could the older want? Jooheon has nothing left for him to steal and ruin. 

“Fine,” Jooheon replies, only able to utter that single syllable out through gritted teeth before glancing back to the floor. He catches how Hyungwon squeezes Kihyun’s hand in a silent message, and the fraction of movement only causes his own bitterness to rise tenfold. He falls a few paces behind, thinking it easier to ignore them when they aren’t so close to him. 

Kihyun glances back for a moment before moving on towards their normal table, his lower lip poked out in a questioning pout before his attention is pulled away by Hyungwon. 

“Breakups are hard,” Gunhee sighs beside him, low enough for only Jooheon to hear. Jooheon glances over to him, the confusion clear on his face.  

“I... don’t know what you mean,” Jooheon tells him truthfully, his befuddlement being the first thing to pierce through the shadows of heartache that have been surrounding him for weeks. Gunhee’s brow furrows, mirroring Jooheon’s expression. 

“Oh, sorry man,” he says, looking to the floor now himself, “I just assumed, with the vibe and all, that you and that other guy were involved...” Jooheon’s eyebrows shoot up, somewhat surprised to have been read so easily by a complete stranger. Amazing how someone so outside the situation could so easily read it all, but Kihyun was still oblivious. 

“No, we weren’t,” Jooheon says, spitting out the words like acid. “We could’ve been, at one point... but that’s all gone now. He chose that jerk over me... twice.” Gunhee hums, and Jooheon catches him eyeing the back of Hyungwon’s head with an almost defensive light.  

“Well... his loss,” Gunhee offers halfheartedly, patting Jooheon’s back. Jooheon gives him a small, tight grin, grateful for the attempt at comfort despite having only known this boy for a few hours.  

He avoids looking at Kihyun and Hyungwon throughout the entirety of lunch, instead distracting himself with talking to Gunhee about different types of music and the artists they liked. To be honest, anything and anyone was a welcome distraction, at this point.