“Deul?”

I blinked at the person standing in front of me, debating whether I should stay in place or run for my life. But before I could turn around and dash out from here, I was pulled into a hug. A tight one, much to my dismay.

“Duel! It’s been so long!” he said as the person spun me around, like how a man would do to his girl after she came back from being out of town for over a week or something along those lines.

“H-Hey, Jaehyun,” I muttered. I tried pulling myself out of his grip, but he held onto me tight. He must have known I was planning on running away.

He finally pulled away, but kept both hands on each of my shoulders. He eyed me up and down with a bright smile and I could something in his small eyes that just screamed excitement. I wonder if he could see that my eyes were screaming for help.

“How long has it been? Six years?”

“Two years, actually,” I mumbled, trying to avoid eye contact. I glared outside at the rain. If it wasn’t for stupid Mother Nature, I wouldn’t be stuck in this place. With this person right in front of me.

I sighed as I slowly pushed Jaehyun’s hands off of me and took a large step back. “Um, anyways, do you have a phone I can use? Mine died on the way home from school.”

“Oh, sure! Just stay right here and I’ll go get it from the back.” Jaehyun flashed me a bright smile before practically skipping off to the back, giggling like a school girl.

I leaned on the counter and let out a long, tired sigh.

Just my luck to be running into Jaehyun out of all the people in this town. I would have been better off stuck with Baro than with this guy. Speaking about Baro, he's probably wondering why I haven’t messaged him back yet.

“Here you go, Deul!” Jaehyun suddenly appeared in front of me while I was too busy in my thoughts. He held up a cordless phone with a bright smile. Why did he remind me so much of Baro. It was really annoying.

“Thanks.” I took the phone and quickly dialed my mother’s cell number. After a couple of minutes of explaining to her that I was stuck because of the rain, she agreed to come pick me up after work if the rain doesn’t lighten up anytime soon. Hopefully it does.

“Here.” I handed the phone back to Jaehyun once I finished my phone call and sighed.

Jaehyun put the phone down on the counter and looked back at me. “Look at you, Deul. Life is treating you well, isn’t it?” He eyed me up and down and I resisted the urge to punch him in the face at the moment. I hate when people look at me like that. Especially when it's him.

“Not exactly,” I muttered.

“You’re still cute as ever. Hey, did you change your phone number or something? I tried calling you a couple of times, but the line was always dead.”

I let out an irritated sigh and rang my fingers through my hair. “Yes. I changed it when I got a new phone.”

“Really? You should give me the new number then. And then maybe we could hang out sometime. Just like the good old days!”

“I don’t think so.”

“What?” Jaehyun blinked and pouted, letting his bottom lip stick out. Most people would have found him cute at this moment. I just find him annoying. “Don’t you miss hanging out with me? We used to always hang out.”

“That was before you humiliated me in front of the whole school and backstabbed me.”

“It wasn’t the whole school,” he corrected, “Just a large part of it. And I didn’t backstab you. Stop exaggerating.”

“You went behind my back and told people that I was an annoying brat that you didn’t like being around. You even admitted to saying that you were only using me to get me to do your homework and crap. That sounds like backstabbing to me,” I growled.

Jaehyun rolled his eyes and waved his hand at me, “Nonsense. Alright, yeah I did say that. But come on, that was like, six years ago. Get over it.”

“Two years, actually.”

“Whatever. The point is, the past is the past. You need to forgive and forget, Duel. Forgive and forget.” He whispered the last part and busted out a laugh when I gave him a confused look.

“Whatever,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “And stop calling me Deul. It gives me chills.”

“Do you want me to call you Junghwan instead?”

“No.”

“Then what do you want me to call you?”

“Nothing.”

“Then how do I address you?”

“That’s the point. You don’t. I don’t want you to talk to me.” I turned around, ready to leave the building. I don’t care if I have to go walking in the rain. I’d rather risk getting sick then be stuck here with this idiot. But as soon as I was inches away from the door, the sound of thunder was heard.

“Just my luck,” I muttered as the rain started to come harder. I stared at it as it was hitting the glass window and I wondered if the gods hated me or something.

“Looks like you’re not going anywhere.” I could hear the smirk in Jaehyun’s voice. And it just made me want to punch him even more.

I turned back to face Jaehyun and frowned. “Phone,” I said as I held my hand out.

Jaehyun blinked in confusion before he reached for the phone again and handed it over to me.

“This idiot better answer or he’s dead,” I muttered while dialing the only number I ever bothered to remember.

“Hello?”

“Pick me up.”

“Sandeul? Is this you?”

“Pick me up. Now.”

“And why on earth should I waste my time and pick you up?”

“Because you’re my cousin. And family are supposed to help each other. Also because I wasted my time helping you clean your puke after you tried eating two whole pizza pies when we were 8. Now, you owe me.”

“I’m not picking you up. It’s raining. I’ll get wet.”

“I can’t go walking home.”

“Why not?”

“It’s raining. I'll get wet."

“Where are you anyways?”

I looked around the deli store and frowned when I noticed Jaehyun was staring at me with a wide annoying smile plastered on his face. “I’m in a building with a creep.”

“Well, I don’t see a problem then.”

I rolled my eyes and walked away from Jaehyun so he wouldn’t hear anything. “Shinwoo, just ask your mom to pick me up or something.”

“Why don’t you just ask Baro to pick you up? Besides, my mom is working. And I wouldn't want her driving in this weather anyways.”

“I don’t like Baro.”

“You don’t like me either.”

“Touché.”

“Ask Baro. I bet he’ll be happy to come see your cute little face.”

“Do you want to die?”

“Not while I’m still a .”

I rolled my eyes. Judging from his looks, he’s going to be a while until that wish is fufilled.  I leaned against the wall and stared out the window, watching the rain hit the ground. “Anyways, even if I wanted to call Baro, my cell died and I don’t know his number by memory.”

“Where are you?”

“In this deli downtown. The one right across from that Chinese restaurant with a snake as a sign.”

“Oh! I know which one you’re talking about. Alright, I’ll call Baro for you and let you pick you up there. Bye!” The other line was quickly cut off and I resisted the urge to throw the phone against the wall in frustration. How did he even get Baro’s number in the first place? He probably stole it from my cell when I wasn’t paying attention. Why would he even need to number anyways?

I let out  a long sigh before I walked over to Jaehyun and handed him the phone back. “Thanks.”

“So about us hanging out-“

“No.”

“I can’t believe you’re still mad about what happened,” Jaehyun said while rolling his eyes, “Just forget about it. Ok, I admit it, I lied to you. I took advantage of you. I made you feel like crap. But I said I’m sorry like a million times already. I tried calling you, but you ignored my calls. I tried sending you IM’s but I never got a response back.”

“Stop lying. You never called me. And I check my messages every day. I never received anything from you. And you never said sorry to me.”

“Alright, so I never did any of those things. But I am sorry. I was a jerk. I was a bad friend and I don’t deserve a second chance. Which is why you should totally give me one!”

“That didn’t even make any sense.”

Jaehyun sighed and ran his hand through his light brown hair. “I’m not good with words.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Look,” Jaehyun grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me closer to him. He placed both hands on my shoulder and forced me to face him, “I miss you, Deul. We used to be best friends. Remember? I know I messed up and all and I feel like crap whenever I remember what I did to you. But just give me a second chance. It’s not like we have to go back to how we were before. We’ll start fresh. I… I just miss you.”

I blinked before taking a step back. “Don’t talk like that. You make it sound like we’re a couple from a drama.”

Jaehyun chuckled, “If we were from a drama, you totally just killed the mood.”

“If we were in a drama, this would have been the part where I forgave you and we kiss and lived happily ever after. Too bad it’s not going to happen.”

Jaehyun laughed. “I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. Not the kissing part,” he quickly added, “I mean the forgiving part. Kissing you would just be weird.”

“Finally, something we both can agree on,” I muttered. I took another step back and sighed. “Anyways Jaehyun, somebody is on their way to come pick me up.”

“A friend of yours?”

“I wouldn’t call him a friend. More like a stain that will never go away. An annoying, over hyper stain. ”

Suddenly the door to the deli flew open. “Deullie!” Baro shouted as he ran in, looking around as though the world was coming to an end. He had a closed umbrella in his hand, but he was soaking wet from head to toe. He was breathing heavily so it was safe to say he probably ran all the way here.

“And here he is,” I muttered to Jaehyun as we both watched Baro with a confused face on.

Baro finally noticed me and then Jaehyun. “Get away from him you e!” He shouted at him before grabbing my wrist and pulling me behind him. “Don’t you dare go near my Deullie!” He held up the umbrella as if it going to be some form of protection.

“e? I’m the same age as him,” Jaehyun said in slight annoyance, “And wait, so said Deul was yours? If anything, he’s mine.”

“I’m no ones,” I pointed out in annoyance.

“Deullie!” Baro shouted again. He turned around and placed both hands on my shoulder, inspecting my body to see if I was hurt anywhere. “He didn’t touch you in any naughty places, did he?”

“No.”

He placed a hand on his chest and let out a sigh of relief. “Good.”

“May I ask what’s going wrong with your brain this time?” I asked. “You’re acting weird. Well, weirder than you usually do.”

“CNU called and said you were stuck in building with a e and that you needed someone to come save you. I ran all the way over here to make sure nothing happened and to protect you.”

I rolled my eyes and let out an irritated sigh. “Shinwoo is an idiot. I said I needed to someone to pick me up because of the rain. Not because I was in trouble. And I didn’t say I was stuck with a e. I said creep. There’s a difference.”

“Hey, I’m not a creep.”

“So… you’re not in desperate for a superhero to come and sweep you off your feet?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Baro let me go and frowned. He looked over at Jaehyun and let out a nervous laugh while rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry for calling you a e. And a bastard who’s head I was going to rib off and feed to the tigers.”

“You never said the last part.”

“Oh. I must have said it on the way here then.” Baro shrugged his shoulders and faced me again with a bright smile. “Let’s get going Deullie! You can come to my house until my parents get home. Then they can give you a ride home.”

“You’re house? Oh joy,” I said with as much sarcasm I can add. I eyed Baro up and down and frowned. “Why are you wet when you have an umbrella?”

Baro looked down at the closed umbrella in his hand and nervously chuckled. “The umbrella is for you. I sort of ran all the way here without thinking that I guess I forgot I even had it in my hand.” He handed me the umbrella and smiled. “I don’t want you to get sick.”

“But now you’re going to get sick.” I sighed when I poked his shoulder and noticed how soaked he was. “Come on. You need to get home and change soon.”

“Don’t worry. My red blood cells are made of steal. They can beat off any germ that comes in their way."

“It’s the white blood cells that fight off germs,” I corrected.

“Same thing.”

I sighed and grabbed Baro’s wrist before turning to Jaehyun. “Anyways, thanks for letting me use the phone.” I turned around and began dragging Baro out the building before Jaehyun spoke up.

“Listen, Deul,” he said as he took a step towards us, “At least think about my offer. You know, of giving me a second chance?”

I stared at him for a while before nodding me head. “Sure.”

Without saying another word, I dragged Baro outside. I opened the umbrella and held it over the both of us while looking up at the sky. It doesn’t look like the rain is going to lighten up anytime soon. It even looks like it’s about to get worst.

“Where’s your house?” I asked Baro.

“This way.” He pointed off to the right and we soon began walking in that direction.

The walk to Baro’s house was oddly comfortable. The only strange thing was that Baro wasn’t talking as much as he normally does. Which is weird because you’d think after not seeing each other for a few weeks, he’d have a lot to say to me. Then again, we still talk daily even without having to see each other.

“Um, can I ask you a question?”

I glanced over at Baro before going back at looking ahead of me. “Since when did you ever need permission to ask me something?” I was expecting Baro to say something witty back, like he normally does, but he remained silent. I let out sigh and nodded my head. “What?"

“About that guy back at the deli. If he wasn’t a e, then who is he?”

I blinked a couple of times. “Jaehyun,” I started before pausing again. I bit my bottom lip as my gaze fell to the ground, “Remember how I told you I never had a friend before?”

“Yeah.”

“I sort of lied to you.”

Baro suddenly stopped walking, which caused me to take a few steps ahead of him before I realized he wasn’t under the umbrella. I turned around and frowned as I saw the rain hitting him again. “Don’t just stop walking again,” I snapped before putting the umbrella back over both our heads.

“You lied to me?” Baro sounded hurt, which actually took me by surprise. I didn’t think would be so hurt about something like this.

“Not entirely. Sort of. I don’t know,” I mumbled. “Jaehyun was an old neighbor of mine that I was always forced to play with.” I grabbed Baro’s wrist and forced him to walk again so we can quickly get to his house and change him out of his wet clothes.

“Anyways,” I continued when we went back to walking side by side, “I was always forced to play with him and stuff, so he always called me his best friend. When in reality, I didn’t really like him. Our relationship went like that for about 5 years until the last year of middle school, when I decided to give him a chance and tried to be his friend. That same year, he went around telling people that he never liked me and that he was only using me. Of course, I found out and never spoke to him again after I confronted him and he admitted to it.  And it was just my luck to run into him after two years of not talking to him.”

Baro slowly nodded his head and frowned when I finished my little story. “ He’s a jerk.”

“I know.”

“Is that why he asked you for a second chance?”

“Yeah. He said something about how he misses me or whatever. I don’t believe him.”

“You shouldn’t. He sounds like a big liar.”

I nodded my head in agreement. “He does, doesn’t he?”

The walk went back to being silent. It was a comfortable silence, which was odd because I never thought Baro and silence would ever mix well together.

“I wouldn’t ever do anything like that to you. Just saying.”

I glanced over at Baro and nodded my head. “I don’t think you would either. You too much of a softy.”

“Hey, I’m not soft. I have abs. Want to feel them?”

“No thanks.”

“Come on. Touch me.”

“Ew. No. That sounded so wrong.”

“ert.”

I rolled my eyes and it wasn’t until a few seconds later that I felt something weird on my face. I was smiling. At something Baro said. Is the world actually coming to an end or what?

I quickly wiped the smile off my face and prayed to my grave that Baro didn’t notice it. Luckily he was too busy staring at the sky to notice anything that was going on around him.

“Like I said, I wouldn’t do anything like that to you. I’m not a jerk like that guy is.”

“I believe you.” And I really did believe Baro. He was too nice of a person to ever backstab someone like Jaehyun did to me. Besides, Baro treats me like if I’m his most prized possession or something. He wouldn’t want to hurt is prize possession. Not in a million years.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep a wall up between the two of us. Just in case.

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I'm sorry for a late update OTL I was serious writers block. I had at least 6 different ways to go about with this chapter and had to rewrite it 6 times until I just decided to go with this weird, awkward, confusion chapter. I don't like this chapter at all, but I didn't want you guys to have to wait any longer. OTL And Jaehyun was just a random person who I made up because I couldn't think of anyone to be the deli guy. Jaehyun is actually an ulzzang  but I guess you can imagine him as the Jaehyun in the story. Here's a pic if you want to know how he looks like.

Also, I wrote this at 2 in the morning, while barely looking at the keyboard so there's probably a lot of mistakes. Sorry OTL