“Where's Junhong-pyon?”  He asked as his eyes were wandered all around the expansive mansion.

"Someone told me a friend of yours was kind of stalking him," Seunghyun answered, not bothering to look at him.

"Stalking? Who said that cheese?" Daehyun joked, receiving a cold glare that could scare anyone.

"My dongsaeng," the older man answered with a cold and deep voice. “Choi Junhong.”

“Choi Junhong!”

The boy in question looked up he heard his name being called. Once he saw that it was Daehyun that was calling him, he recoiled without really knowing why.

“Did you really believe me? Did you really think that I loved you? I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Again, he cringed as the frequently occurring phenomenon of recalling words he’d never heard before took over his mind. This time, the words left a hollow but strangely excruciating pang in his heart. He met Daehyun’s eyes and narrowed his own, keeping a composed and aloof expression on his face.

“Jung Daehyun-sshi,” Junhong reciprocated stiffly, trying hard to keep the accusation in his tone as he remembered how the other boy had paid a visit to his mansion.

“I don’t know if your Hyung told you, but I dropped by your house yesterday,” said Daehyun conversationally. “But you never went down from your room.”

Junhong’s eyebrows furrowed. For some reason, that phrase – ‘your Hyung’ – being said by Daehyun struck a nerve with him.

“You sound exactly like your Hyung. He used to be the best, and now look what good this love has done for him and the rest of you.”

He repressed the urge to claw at his hair in mad agony. Instead, he feigned a smile towards Daehyun.

“I’m sorry, Daehyun-sshi,” he said through his teeth. “I wasn’t feeling very well that day. All that running from Himchan-sshi really wore me out.”

At this, Daehyun’s eyebrows disappeared into his ash-blond hair. He offered Junhong a good-natured kind of grin before twiddling his thumbs in a display of coyness.

“Forgive me – I don’t mean to sound too prying,” Daehyun began evasively. “I know you’re quite introverted and I respect your privacy, but my curiosity is getting the better of me.”

“What are you referring to?” Junhong murmured.

“Well, your Hyung told me that you said that a friend of mine was, and I quote, ‘kind of stalking you’,” Daehyun stated bluntly. “I, of course, was shocked and couldn’t fathom who would ever do that. Then I remembered the only person brave – if not foolishly so – enough to try and reach out to you.”

Junhong leaned away, uncomfortable about where the conversation was going.

“You weren’t possibly talking about Himchan, were you?” Daehyun finally finished, delivering the final kill.

Junhong grimaced. “What if I was? Why does it matter?”

Daehyun made a disapproving sound. “Junhong, come on. Himchan is just trying to be nice. Besides, you should know by now how he is – that type of hyper nature and slight nosiness is part of his personality.”

“What exactly are you getting at, Daehyun-sshi?” Junhong muttered, unable to keep a hint of menace from seeping into his voice.

“Well, I don’t think it’s fair that you’re fabricating about Himchan’s eagerness,” Daehyun admitted in a tone that sounded akin to smugness. “After all, he just wants to be your friend. Don’t you trust him?”

“I trust him fully, because he’s never given me any reason not to trust him.”

Junhong was on the verge of repeating the words that had sounded in his head, but he felt that doing so would eventually lead to heartache. Instead, he acted impulsively.

“Friend? Of course not!” Junhong scoffed anxiously. “Why would I trust him? He’s never given me any reason to!”

“That’s quite a –” Daehyun stopped short and stared at a point beyond Junhong, towards the door. “When did you get here…Himchan?”

Stunned, Junhong turned to look behind him. To his surprise, he found a frozen Himchan staring at him like he’d just pulled the trigger to kill him.

The worst part was that Himchan didn’t even look that surprised to hear what Junhong had said; he looked like he’d expected it, which made Junhong’s heart hurt in an unexpected way.

“Himchan –,” he tried to say, but was cut off as the other boy raised a hand to silence him.

“I get it, Junhong-sshi,” said Himchan in a tone that was so painfully stoic that it physically hurt for Junhong to hear. Instead of reacting rashly like Junhong expected him to, Himchan regarded Junhong with a serene but unbelievably sad smile. “I’m sorry for wasting your time and making you feel uncomfortable. I’m sorry for being such an overbearing bother – such a perpetually chirping bird who tried in vain to be a part of your life in some small way. I’m such an idiot.”

Without waiting to hear Junhong’s reply, he trudged out of the classroom.

“Himchan,” Junhong whispered after him. “Wait, don’t…Don’t go.”

Closely watching him, Daehyun made a sound of contempt and sat in his assigned seat.

“They are both fools.”

**

From: Himchan Bunny

To: Jiyong Hyung

Hyung, I don’t know what to do. Junhong outright said that he wasn’t my friend and he didn’t trust me. What am I supposed to doooo? D:

From: Jiyong Hyung

To: Himchan Bunny

He said that? What a move. What did you say to him?

From: Himchan Bunny

To: Jiyong Hyung

I apologized for wasting his time and being such a bother. Then I left.

From: Jiyong Hyung

To: Himchan Bunny

What do you plan to do?

From: Himchan Bunny

To: Jiyong Hyung

I don’t know. But I do know that I am DONE. Done with being rejected, done with trying to reach out and looking like an idiot when he completely ignores me and brushes me off. I don’t even know why I try when it’s obvious that he’s not and will not make an effort.

From: Jiyong Hyung

To: Himchan Bunny

Himchan, do you remember what I told you the day we met?

From: Himchan Bunny

To: Jiyong Hyung

Ehhh?

From: Jiyong Hyung

To: Himchan Bunny

Maybe the key to evoking a reaction out of him is to remove yourself from his life for a bit; maybe then he’ll realize what you mean to him.

From: Himchan Bunny

To: Jiyong Hyung

How do I do that?

From: Jiyong Hyung

To: Himchan Bunny

Ignore him. Talk to others to make him jealous.

MAKE him miss you.

Himchan stared at the screen of his cell phone in wonder.

“Make him miss me?” he repeated. “Jiyong Hyung, you are a genius!”

**

The Next Day ~

“Good morning, Himchan,” Junhong greeted anxiously, dropping the –sshi for a more informal feel.

Instead of replying, Himchan brushed past him to sit at his desk. Junhong was left to stare at the space where he had been in confusion. A few moments later, he followed suit and sat at his own desk, all the while staring at the usually energetic boy who was turned away from him.

“Ah, Himchan –” Junhong tried again, but was cut off by Himchan’s loud laughter.

“And then I told him, ‘Vocaloid’s not an anime, you !’” Himchan said to Yongguk, sharing some inside joke that Junhong was left out of.

Junhong looked down at his desk in shame; he was the one who caused this.

Himchan, why won’t you look at me? he asked in regret. And why am I so bothered?

On the other side of the spectrum, Himchan sighed, keeping in mind the words that Jiyong had texted him.

Make him miss you.