Chapter 6

Recommended song: Apology (by iKON)

Hearing a loud cry of anguish erupting from the kitchen, June and Chanwoo, who were eavesdropping outside, took it as an invitation to interrupt and barged into the kitchen.

'What happened? Yunhyeong, are you okay?' asked June with concern written all over his face, as his eyes landed on Yunhyeong's distorted face.

'Ah, Yunhyeong hyung, there's blood on your forehead!' exclaimed Chanwoo, eyes widened in shock.

Small droplets of blood dripped down Yunhyeong's forehead, then along his cheeks, and landed on his white shirt, forming tenacious stains.

Hitting against the cabinet door on the head was agonising, yet it was nothing compared to the searing pain in his heart, which dominated all of his senses. He could see his friends' lips moving, talking to him, yet he could hear nothing. The only thing he could hear was Jaewon saying that he was just Hanbin's boy toy. It was so loud and perpetual in his head that it drowned out all sorts of noise around him.

It seemed like Yunhyeong could not feel any hint of physical pain as he only stood idly with a blank expression and eyes focused on a picture of the seven of them smiling happily at a beach on the wall. He could feel his knees give way to the pain and wanted to shout for help, yet nothing could come out of his mouth.

Seeing Yunhyeong's legs tremble, June immediately rushed towards Yunhyeong and anchored him on his back, giving him a piggyback.

'Yunhyeong, we're taking you to the hospital to get that checked out, okay?' asked June, in an unusual soft voice.

'June ah, gomawo...jinja gomawo,' murmured Yunhyeong, before drifting into unconsciousness.

'June, you can't tell manager-hyung,' stated Jinhwan with a firm expression.

'Why?' answered June curtly.

'Because it's about Hanbin,' replied Jinhwan, while helping June get Yunhyeong out of the flat.

After sending off Yunhyeong, who was concussed and unconscious, the three of them sat outside the examination room of the A&E.

'What exactly happened?' asked June with a serious expression.

Despite having known June for years, Jinhwan was still not used to this side of June, which was serious, resolved and focused. In Jinhwan's eyes, June had always been a little boy, who was always loud, energetic, and sometimes garrulous, but rarely solemn. Yet, when it came to Yunhyeong, June became a different person.

It was not a secret within the group that June looked at Yunhyeong in a different way since June had never been discreet in prioritising Yunhyeong over himself, favouritisng him in every possible way and scenario, and protecting him from any impending danger. Yunhyeong and Hanbin definitely were not the most obscure couple on earth since they would cuddle whenever and wherever, and were never shy to show their affection to each other under the presence of others. Sometimes, Jinhwan would catch June gazing at the couple performing acts of overflowing affection and putting up a wry smile afterwards, but, most of the time, Jinhwan could see June smiling happily on autopilot after seeing Yunhyeong's face glow in felicity. To Jinhwan, this was the manifestation of true love that was selfless, unlimited and pure. There were times when Jinhwan would cast June a worrying look, yet June would always put an end to his concerns by telling him 'I'm happy if Yunhyeong's happy'.

Yunhyeong was also one of Jinhwan's favorite dongsaengs owing to his deferential demeanor and kindness. Jinhwan had always wanted the best for him and would support him no matter what. He knew that he was not in the position to judge, but based on what he had seen, Yunhyeong would be better off with June than with Hanbin, who broke his heart continuously with his erratic temper and constant absence. As the oldest, Jinhwan only wanted everyone to be happy like in their predebut days. He would never want Yunhyeong to go through what he had been going through these two years again.

'Hyung, what happened?' asked June again, snapping Jinhwan out of his train of thoughts.

'Long story short, Hanbin cheated on Yunhyeong with Jaewon. To be exact, I caught them. Last night, I couldn't sleep and went out for a walk. As I passed by the supermarket near our apartment, I saw Jaewon and Hanbin coming out of a club, engaged in a heated argument. I approached them to see what was going on and heard Hanbin say 'So we smashed?' and Jaewon replying to him 'it was some great fun though'. I then went up to them and confronted Hanbin,' explained Jinhwan, while eyeing June, who was already fuming with anger.

'I knew it! I knew that he was up to no good. He has been ghosting Yunhyeong for days and now he's a ing cheater!' said June vehemently.

'I swear I'll kill him when I see him!' declared June in a firm tone.

'Don't. Yunhyeong doesn't want anyone to interfere with this. I know what Yunhyeong is to you. You wouldn't want to upset him even more, would you?' warned Jinhwan, with eyes fixed on June.

'Hanbin hyung is calling. Should I tell him about Yunhyeong hyung?' asked Chanwoo, who had been silent the whole time.

'Tell him about it. Yunhyeong would want to see him and that's the least he could do,' said June in a weak voice.

'Yoboseyo? Ah, hyung, Yunhyeong hyung is...ummm...in the hospital...we're at the one close to our apartment...at the A&E,' said Chanwoo to the phone.

'He's coming,' said Chanwoo, who then returned to his silent state.

After a while, Hanbin rushed in, emerging from the corridor leading to the A&E, with dishevelled hair and his shirt untucked.

'Where is he? Is he out yet? Is he okay? What happened?' blurted Hanbin while trying to regulate his breath.

Before Jinhwan could answer his questions, Hanbin strode away from him and stormed towards June, who was peeping into the examination room through the blinds.

'You er! Don't you think that Yunhyeong would turn to you after all this! His heart belongs to me and you're just irrelevant!' shouted Hanbin, with hands grasping June's collar tightly.

'Hanbin, let go of June now!' said a soft voice from behind.

'Yunhyeongie, are you okay? I'm so sorry...' said Hanbin gently, while running towards Yunhyeong, who had just been discharged.

'Jinhwan hyung, June, Chanwoo, let's go home,' said Yunhyeong weakly, ignoring Hanbin's questions.

'Yunhyeongie, mianhe...Please look at me,' pleaded Hanbin, with eyes b with tears.

'Hanbin, I'm very disappointed in you. You lied to me, cheated on me and now you blame June for nothing. What do you want me to say to you? You know I loved you very very much and still will, but I don't think there will be us again. I just can't. You know you could have just told me that you were tired of me instead of making me you boy toy,' stated Yunhyeong with a straight face.

'Yunhyeongie, please listen to my explanation. I love you...I really do,' said Hanbin, with tears rolling down his cheeks.

Yunhyeong brushed past Hanbin and strode towards the exit, with June and Jinhwan trailing behind, without looking back at Hanbin.

Chanwoo, who had kept mum this whole time, stayed behind and approached Hanbin.

'Hanbin hyung, we need to talk,' said Chanwoo.