08
Nothing's Over
--
Eight
--
You and Junhyung hung around your house lazily after school, finishing up homework at the coffee table. Junhyung yawned, leaning back against the couch before yawning.
“You done yet?” he asked, glancing over at your work.
“Almost done,” you said, finishing up the last answer in your scripted handwriting. Just as you were dotting the last period, Junhyung jerked the paper underneath your hand, making you draw a jagged line over your perfect handwriting.
“What- JUNHYUNG.” You dropped your pen in exasperation, sighing at the ruined piece of homework.
“It’s fine, come on. I’m taking you out for dinner. Go get changed.”
“Where? The cafe we always go to?”
“Yeah. Hurry up!”
--
“Where you’d get clothes to change into?” Junhyung was already waiting at the door for you when you hopped downstairs with your clutch in your hand and phone in your back pocket.
“Have fun kids, don’t stay out too late,” your dad called from the kitchen.
“You take forever to change. I went home and changed, then came back.”
“That’s not saying much. You live across the street,” you pointed out as you locked the door behind you. Junhyung held the gates open for you before closing them behind you and heading down the sidewalk.
The evening breeze was a little bit chilly, but it was refreshing nontheless. You took a few hop steps up to Junhyung and grabbed onto his arm, leaning onto it as you two walked.
Junhyung turned to raise an eyebrow at you, but didn’t say anything as he played with stuff in his pockets.
“How’s school been going?” he asked. An obligatory question.
“Fine. Classes aren’t as easy as I thought they’d be, plus a lot of my time is spent on power training this year. I’m not really used to it,” you said with a slight frown.
“Oh no, your free time is being occupied with something relevant. Whatever will you do with yourself?” Junhyung said as sarcastically as he could. You gave him an indignant look before punching him with your other arm.
“Ow! What was that for? You’re punching harder these days.” Junhyung rubbed at his arm, letting out another yelp as you punched his arm again.
“What was that one for?!”
“Your arm was too hard. I’m softening it up.”
“Why thank you, I have been working out.” The two of you laughed before stopping with a crowd and waiting to cross the street.
“How’s power training been going for you? I know I haven’t been a good friend and asking you about it like you always do with me, but I’ve been a little preoccupied lately.” You nodded, leaning from side to side while bracing yourself on Junhyung’s arm.
“Really well, actually. Junho says my powers are progressing really fast, and he’s been teaching me kickboxing, so you better watch out.” Junhyung nodded. You thought back earlier in the morning to Junhyung and Junho talking.
“Oh, wait. I meant to ask, you know Junho?” The walk light finally turned green and the crowd started to move, jostling the two of you as you walked.
“I guess you could say that,” Junhyung said with so much definitey that you decided not to press the matter any further.
“What about you? I hear all you do is power training. Any progression?”
“Yeah. I’ll show you when we get to the cafe.”
--
Meanwhile, you didn’t notice the two pairs of eyes that were following you, one pair narrowing until they almost disappeared.
“Do they have to walk that close together?” Sunggyu asked, trying to get a better look at the two of you as you and Junhyung crossed the street.
“This is a stupid idea, even for you. I don’t have to read minds to know how this is going to end. You’re going to get caught, and she’s going to get pissed at you. You know she has a short temper, and Junhyung is scary.” Woohyun sighed as he stood next to his friend, shaking his head.
“Whatever. I just want to see what they do, that’s all.”
“It looks like a date to me,” Woohyun said, crossing the street at the end of the crowd.
“Hey! Wait for me! And it’s not a date, they’re best friends.”
“Yeah, you think that, I know you do. But that’s not what Junhyung’s thinking.”
--
You and Junhyung sat at your usual outdoor table, waiting for the waiter to come by. You two frequented the place often, so when he saw you two, he immediately put the menus down and went to take your order.
You two ordered the usual thing, and he bowed before heading off.
“That guy’s been working here for a while, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah, since we started coming here, I think,” Junhyung said, leaning back into his seat.
“So, you said you were gonna show me your power progression?” you asked, failing to hide the excitement in your voice. Junhyung chuckled at you before pulling a small cube of metal from his pocket.
You stared at it as it started to float a few inches above his hand. It suddenly melted into a circular blob, then formed a life sized rose.
“For you,” Junhyung said with a smirk on his face. You laughed, clapping your hands before taking it from him, surprised by how light it was.
“Hey! This one doesn’t weigh a ton!”
“Yeah, because I’m not smashing metal together anymore. I can actually mold it.” You examined the rose between your fingers and smiled.
“I’ll add it to my pile. Actually, I think I’ll start a new one. All the ones you’ve made for me in the past are in this bucket. You can see the progression. The first few ones you made were so ugly,” you said, laughing at the indignant expression on Junhyung’s face.
“I don’t have to make them for you. I just choose to.” You laid the rose down on the table and shook your head.
“Oh. What did you do with the necklace I made you?” He pointed to the strawberry pendant Junho gave you.
“It’s on the wall above the headboard in my room. Like I would ever get rid of that thing. It was the first thing you made for me.” Junhyung laughed before leaning onto the table.
“It didn’t even look like a strawberry.”
“You tried. Why else would I wear it for so long?” The two of you grinned at each other as a comfortable silence fell on each other.
“Listen, there’s something I want to talk to you about,” Junhyung started, but the waiter came back with your food and set them on the table before smiling at the two of you and leaving.
“Oh thank god, I’m starving. Wait, you were saying something?” Junhyung closed his mouth and shook his head.
“It can wait. Eat first.”
--
“Uh oh,” Woohyun said from inside the cafe. Sunggyu and Woohyun sat at a table far enough from the window not to be seen, but close enough so Woohyun could see your eyes.
“What? What’s going on?” Sunggyu asked, trying to get a glimpse of your face.
“Your food is ready.” Sunggyu leaned off of the table, letting their waitress set the plates of food down.
“If you need anything else, please let us know!”
“Thank you,” Sunggyu said, nodding at the waitress.
“Woohyun! What’s going on?”
“Well...” Woohyun turned back around and started to tuck a napkin in his shirt and picked up his silverware.
“Junhyung wants to talk to her about something.”
“What? About what? Me?” Sunggyu was nervous again. He knew that you held Junhyung in high regard, and anything negative he said about him, you were likely to take to heart.
“Kind of, not really,” Woohyun said slowly. He took a bite of his food and swallowed. “Oh man, the food here is good. You’re paying, right, Sunggyu? You’re the one that dragged me out here.”
“Yes, I’m paying, would you just tell me already?”
“He wants to confess to her.”
“I knew it!” Sunggyu almost yelled, standing up from his seat.
“Hey, calm down before you blow something up. Eat the food, it’s so good. We should come here more often.” Sunggyu fumed as he stared at his food.
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about. She only thinks of him as a friend. She still thinks that this isn’t a date.”
“He even gave her that metal rose! How much more obvious could he be?”
“Obviously not obvious enough for her. Eat your food, or I’m going to eat it for you.”
--
“How do you like your team?” you asked in between bites of food. Junhyung wiped his lips with a napkin before rolling his eyes.
“They’re a bunch of idiots. I don’t know why I got stuck with a team that thinks they can win The Games by themselves. If that were the case, then we wouldn’t need teams in the first place.”
“Because you strike fear into peoples’ hearts. Discipline them. I know you don’t take crap. Just let them see how fail they are at the course. I heard they’re going to let people start trying the practice course next week.”
“Yeah, they are. And I should. Let them see how well they do on their own. And I will be on the ground, laughing my off when they fail. The SS aren’t pulling any punches on the practice course. The real survival course is going to be brutal. I wish you were on my team.”
“Haha. Anyone on your team good with survival skills and stuff?”
“No! They’re all idiots with their cushy GPS’s and stuff. It’s so dumb.”
“Remember when we were little? We used to go camping all the time and send each other morse code messages.”
“Yeah. You could pitch a tent faster than anyone I knew. Hell, you could build a shelter from whatever you could find, and start a fire without using matches. Switch with someone from my team. We can make it through the course together,” Junhyung pleaded, making you laugh as he tried to pout.
“Who... used to take us? My dad?” Junhyung cleared his throat.
“Your dad... and the Commander.” Your eyebrows furrowed as you tired to remember. You could remember going camping with them but... you couldn’t remember the Commander’s face.
“Why can’t I remember his face then? I spent the entirety of my childhood with him...”
“Maybe that’s how much he scarred you,” Junhyung said, playing around with his food before taking another bite.
“I guess,” you said as you stared off into the distance.
“You finished yet?” You looked down at your empty plate, wondering when you finished it before giving Junhyung a sheepish smile.
“Yeah, I’m done.”
“Good. Any room for dessert?” You looked down at your stomach and patted it.
“Maybe.” Junhyung laughed, shaking his head and calling the waiter over for the check. You pulled your clutch out and started to count out the bills, but Junhyung sent the waiter away with the money and tip before you looked back up.
“I got it this time. For not paying attention to you like I should.” You blinked at him a few times before slowly replacing the bills back into your clutch.
“Oh. Okay. But I’ll pay for dessert.”
“I guess. I’m going to get something ridiculously expensive and zap your wallet dry.”
“You jerk! You won’t even buy me phone charms!”
“That’s your boyfriend’s job. Not mine.” Junhyung turned his head to look inside, his eyes settling on Woohyun and Sunggyu. They looked away quickly, hiding their faces as you looked in curiously.
“Who’re you looking at?”
“No one,” Junhyung said as he got up from his chair. “Come on, let’s go before it gets too dark, and you lose your eyesight.”
“You !”
--
“Well . I didn’t see that. Why didn’t I see that?” Woohyun asked as he and Sunggyu fidgeted in his seat.
“He knew we were in here the entire time. He saw us at the crosswalk.” Sunggyu cursed under his breath. “You don’t think he would tell her, would he?”
“He would. I think he’s just waiting to see if you follow them to dessert or not. I think we should call it quits and go home.”
“But you said he wanted to confess to her!”
“And? You wanna be there when he does? It spells nothing but disaster, Sunggyu. Trust me. You can give her the ‘I trust you, it’s him I don’t trust’ line, but I think that’ll just make her even more mad at you. Please. Listen to me for once. I am saying something important. Don’t tune me out like you usually do.”
--
You and Junhyung stood outside of the ice cream shop, eating your ice cream. Junhyung made some comment about how he thought you should have diabetes by now from all the sugar you’ve ingested in your life.
“What did you want to tell me earlier?” you asked, picking the cherry off the top of your ice cream and eating it.
“Oh, that. Did you know your boyfriend and his friend have been following us?” Junhyung said with a smirk on his face. You froze and looked over to Junhyung in surprise.
“What?”
“Yeah. I saw them at the crosswalk. They’re over there,” Junhyung said, pointing his finger down the street. You leaned out to look, catching a glimpse of Woohyun getting pulled into a shop by Sunggyu’s arm.
“Of course, it could just be a coincidence,” Junhyung added.
“If it was a coincidence, then they wouldn’t have to hide. Hold my ice cream,” you said, handing Junhyung your ice cream. He followed you with a slight smirked on his face as you made your way to the store. You stood outside, staring in until they pretended to just notice you.
“Oh, fancy meeting-”
“Have you been following us?” you asked incredulously. Sunggyu’s words immediately started to falter as Woohyun shook his head.
“I told you this was a bad idea. I told you to listen to me for once.”
“I just wanted to make sure he wouldn’t do anything to you,” Sunggyu said.
“What, you don’t trust me or something?”
“It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s him!” Woohyun threw his hands up into the air. Sunggyu was doing everything he told him not to do. The boy really was hopeless.
“Oh, okay. So you don’t trust my judgement? He’s my best friend. What did you think would happen?” Junhyung at his ice cream, watching the fight with amusement.
“I can’t believe you! This is so ridiculous! UGH!” You turned and punched at the railing before stalking off. The three boys stared wide eyed at the dent you left in the railing. Junhyung handed Woohyun your ice cream cone before fixing it as Sunggyu ran off after you.
“You’re pretty stupid too, you know. You’ve gotta learn to read through lies or else you might kill your team,” Junhyung said, taking a bite out of his ice cream.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“My mom’s a mind reader too. I know how to with what you’re reading in my head. It may be true, it may not be. It’s certainly something I’m going to teach my team, and I’m sure the SS know how to do it too. I can’t believe you guys believed that I was going to confess to her like that. I’m a little bit more romantic than that.”
Junhyung smirked at Woohyun before walking off with a small wave at him. Woohyun stared at Junhyung’s retreating back with a dumbstruck look on his face.
“What a mind .”
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