It had been raining all day. Since morning, their neighborhood had been drenched. The school yard, which was usually full with students spending their free time during their free period or lunch time, was now empty. They either stayed in their classroom or packed inside the cafeteria.

            But Yong Hwa chose neither. When the bell rang, he got up from his seat and decided to go to the music club room, his recent hang out place. After he stopped hanging out with Seo Hyun, he spent most of his time in the music club. One day, he even brought his guitar from home and kept it there, so that he could play it whenever he wanted to. And that day was no exception.

            During the boring lecture of human blood transportation system in class, he got an idea of a song. He finished writing the lyrics in the 2-hour class and intended to immediately work on the melody. That was why he came to this room, his sanctuary.

            If anything, music kept his mind away. Music kept him sane.

            As expected, no one was in the room. The other boy, Jong Hyun from 2^nd year, was absent that day, so Yong Hwa got the room all to himself. It was messy, as usual. But it did not prevent his musical sense to work.

            After preparing his guitar, plugging the cords to the amplifier, and tuning his guitar, he was ready to go. With the lyrics on hand, Yong Hwa started to find the best melody that suited his song.

            For almost an hour, he was so occupied with his song that he did not realize somebody was already standing in the room. He leaned on the door as he watched Yong Hwa played his guitar. He fold in his arms across his chest as he said, “It was such a sad song you were playing. Did you write it?”

            Yong Hwa was startled. He was surprised to see somebody else inside the room, “Min Hyuk?”

            “Ne, sunbaenim. I’m sorry to interrupt.” He bowed to him. As much as he hated to do this, Yong Hwa was still his sunbae after all.

            “What are you doing here?” Yong Hwa was clearly confused. He was not that close with this Seoul boy, especially after he started dating Seo Hyun. Plus, Yong Hwa knew for sure that he did not show any hatred towards the boy so there was no issue with him whatsoever.

            “I need to talk to you.” The pretty boy expression suddenly disappeared from Min Hyuk’s face. It was changed into a serious aura that Yong Hwa never thought he could have that.

            “Okay.” He put his guitar back, “What is it?”

            Min Hyuk sighed. It was time. He needed to get it out of his chest or he would go crazy, “Do you like Seo Hyun?”

            At first, Yong Hwa could not believe that he heard the question right. So he asked him back, “Excuse me?”

            “Do you like Seo Joo Hyun?” This time, Min Hyuk used her full name, so Yong Hwa could understand his question perfectly. He wanted to hear the answer. He needed to hear the answer. Because the answer that Yong Hwa gave would be the thing that determined everything.

            “You mean Seo Joo Hyun, your girlfriend?” Yong Hwa tried to emphasize on the phrase ‘your girlfriend’ so that he could be sure that both of them were talking about the same person.

            “Seo Joo Hyun, your best friend.” Min Hyuk answered.

            Both of them were bravely looking into each others’ eyes. There was a weird atmosphere going around them as both were silent, waiting for the other one to say something.

            “Well?” It was Min Hyuk. He realized that it was his sunbae that he was talking to. But he did not come in here as a junior. He came as a guy who needed assurance. They needed to talk like a man. And if Yong Hwa could not appreciate his effort and gave him an answer, then maybe Yong Hwa was not that good of man after all.

            “I don’t like her.”

            Min Hyuk was obviously surprised to hear the answer. He was so sure that Yong Hwa would say yes. Considering his recent behavior, Min Hyuk could bet his entire year of high school that a ‘yes’ would come out of Yong Hwa’s mouth.

            “I’m sorry?”

            “I don’t like her.” Yong Hwa told Min Hyuk for the second time. He looked at Min Hyuk eyes and continued, “I love her.”

            There. Finally. Min Hyuk was man enough to confront him this way. He should respect that by giving him honesty.

            Yong Hwa realized that Seo Hyun was more than just a childhood best friend to him. It was not a mere interest that he felt towards her. It was something deeper. And what kind of feeling was it if not love? The kind of feeling that made you sacrifice something for the other person’s happiness, even though at the same time, it was killing you.

            Surprisingly, Min Hyuk smiled. His feelings were mixed up. He was sad, angry, broken, hurt, but happy at the same time. But most of all, he was relieved. He finally had his answer.

            “Thank you for being honest. I really appreciate it.” Min Hyuk bowed to him before walking out the door, leaving Yong Hwa alone with his confusion.

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*The Curse of Being in Love is a song performed by Sondre Lerche