Guest Special
Finding You, You, You, You and You!!Guest # 3
"Honey, aren't you going to sit in the front?....Junhong ah~~"
The said boy looked up to see his mother staring at him from the mirror with a concerned look. He smiled his usual bright smile.
"I'm good. I felt like sitting in the back today. "
"But your long legs don't have enough space back there.."
"It's okay, really, it's fine. Can we go home? I'm super hungry, mommy!"
His mother finally returned with a big smile before turning her attention to the front.
"My big baby! Hahaha"
Junhong felt his own smile grow even bigger as he stared at the raindrops hitting the window.
Did Jongup punch Daehyun because of me? No way that he remembers me, right? Maybe he likes Junhong more than Zelo now...
"Honey, we're here. Go wash up before dinner and your dad's home so go see him too."
Junhong nodded as he lightly jogged in the rain into their modest house. He didn't have to search far for his father. He hesitated for a second before bowing, "I'm home, dad."
Junhong's dad, Mr. Choi, nodded to the boy from the couch, "Well, I sure am glad to see you grow up from those punk days of yours! Kids need to go learn in schools not skateboard all day long...being loud and rude, a nuisance...eh....even changing the good name we gave you....Wha–what was that name you kep–"
"Zelo. He called himself Zelo, don't you remember, honey? And I thought it was cute how he pretended to be someone else...although," Mrs. Choi starting walking to the kitchen while lightly drying her hair, "...I'm still glad to have my baby Junhong back!!"
The said boy jerked his head towards his mother at the mention of his nickname. It had been a while since he had heard anyone call him that, so much so that he himself had started to forget it. Not that he wanted to remember it.
The only thing that Junhong had to be thankful for back then was Jongup and even the latter had eventually left him. So, when he managed to convince his mother to relocate to Seoul where Jongup was–although he used different reasons–Zelo dyed his hair and became Junhong. He wanted the name, his skateboarding lifestyle–his life before here, before transferring here–all of it gone.
Guest # 2
The boy–his face contorted in worry and exhaustion and his hands moving on their own–hastily started cleaning the last of the tables in the now dimly lit area. His robotic movements only stopped when he felt a nudge to his shoulder and heard the voice that followed.
"You're still here, Youngjae?"
The said boy looked at his friend and co-worker, "Why are you still here, JB? I'm on closing duty, not you. It's late, you should head home before your dad starts hating me too."
"Hey....don't worry about that," JB's voice turned softer, it was the tone he used when he was worried, "Are you okay, Youngjae?"
"Yea, I'm fi—"
"I may not be your best friend but you're mine and I'm worried about you. Really....You're okay, right?"
The boy nodded with a smile as he resumed his rhythmic cleaning routine. He started humming to himself like Daehyun always did only to find that despite his efforts, it wasn't the same. Youngjae tried to look on the brighter side of things like his mom; at least he was almost done for the day and–minus the black eye and hatred filled eyes that no longer liked him–Daehyun was sort of waiting for him in the back like always.
"JB, I said, I'm alright. Real–" He turned upon realizing that his friend was still there, still staring and observing him.
"You were right before. The humming....it's not like when he does it. Youngjae, I...just..."
"Hey~~ it's not a big deal. I'm just a dramatic mess, that's all. Nothing for you to worry about. Really."
Youngjae walked towards the boy and lightly patted his back. He watched the boy hesitate, as if wanting to say something more, then nod and turn to leave. He smiled at the boy's retreating figure, only to see it turn once more.
"Youngjae? I think Daehyun is calling for you."
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"I didn't call you."
Youngjae looked at the boy in front of him. He knew that even though the latter had his eye covered with the melted ice pack, Daehyun was surely aware of everything.
"How's your eye?" Youngjae instinctively started to move closer to the boy–first aid kit in hand–his concern was overshadowing his earlier anger at the boy.
"Don't touch me!" Daehyun violently jerked away, even taking a couple steps backwards and refusing to make eye contact.
Youngjae scoffed and threw his hands in the air as he felt his anger return. He took a final look at the boy, "If you hate me so very much, Mr. Jung Daehyun, why did you show up here? Huh? Why couldn't you just let me be?"
Before Daehyun could reply, Youngjae grabbed his clothes and walked out of the room. It was only when Daehyun was outside, on his way to the bus and protected by the noisy rain that Daehyun spoke, "I came because I couldn't sleep, Youngjae. I tried and tried and this damn... I'm too used to you...I....I..."
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Youngjae had secretly waited for Daehyun to leave the room before returning because the umbrella was still in his locker. Now, as he walked behind, he could see the older boy seated at the bus stop with his increasingly drenched silhouette.Youngjae angrily sighed at himself for what he was going to do and started walking up to the boy.
"Here. You might catch a cold."
Before Daehyun could say anything, Youngjae quickly threw his sweater at him–which the other caught, his face in wide surpise–and hastily started walking away. As Youngjae kept walking, he was glad to have an umbrella to hide him and since he walked past the bus stop, he also prayed for a taxi to show up soon.
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