Chapter 14

"All you have to do is lend me a school uniform so I can blend in and have a good long conversation with Leo. I will apologise to him!" N told Hongbin one day. It was certainly out of the blue and he did not really understand what events led them to where they currently were. Hongbin heaved a sigh. N's suggestion truly was typical of him. N was the only person that Hongbin knew who would do such a thing. He also knew that if he did not give N what he wanted, then N might cause more havoc compared to if he just give in to his pleas in the first place.

"What do you plan to do then?" Hongbin asked in defeat. He sat back down on his seat and buried his head on the table. He was exhausted and it was not even because of school, but because of a boy whom he considered to be just like his brother (He believed that he might lose Sanghyuk as well if he doesn't do anything about it soon). Hongbin definitely heard N and Sanghyuk's conversation that one afternoon. And ever since then, there was this strange feeling that he felt at the pit of his stomach, and it was not pleasant at all. He did not want to hear those words coming out of Sanghyuk's mouth especially since he just came to learn how much he liked having him around –

"Apologise to him, then leave right after that. I promise! Because this time, I really have to do something after school," N mumbled softly.

Hongbin looked up a bit and raised an eyebrow. "What would you do after school that is more important than your so-called 'lifelong friend'?"

N bit down on his bottom lip before he answered, "I'm telling you the truth, but I really just can't say it right now, Binnie..."

'I missed him,' Hongbin thought to himself as he watched the usual expensive car take Sanghyuk away. He wanted to talk to him and keep Sanghyuk by his side all the time because... well, he felt like they both felt the same way. Hongbin tried to convince himself that the reason why he thought that way was because he did not do that when his brother was still around. He could have believed in his brother rather than pushing him away and calling him a liar,

'Everyone is a liar,' his own words rang inside his head –

"Binnie?" N prodded Hongbin's cheek with his finger. "You suddenly spaced out. What were you thinking of?"

Hongbin swatted his hand on instinct. "None of your business," He snapped at him. Before he realized it, N had put a slight distance between them. He had the exact same look that Sanghyuk had the other day when he raised his voice at him. Hongbin cursed himself in his head for his attitude. He wanted to say sorry to N, but no words would just come out of his mouth.

"Leo!" N called out as soon as he recognised his lifelong friend's back in the crowd. He heard the other students chatting about him from every corner, but he heeded no attention to them. "Jung Leo!" N tried a bit louder, "I know that you can hear me!" As he ran after Leo, a tap on his shoulder suddenly got him to stop,

"Excuse me, but I don't think I've seen you here before," A boy said, a smirk visible on his lips.

N frowned. Was he getting hit on? Shaking his thoughts away, he immediately beamed at the boy. N cleared his throat then answered him, "Please excuse me. I'm running after someone."

The boy's grin widened. "I know. But it is customary that you know that it is not appropriate to yell in the halls." He grabbed N's wrist, making it impossible for him to catch up with Leo if he was held back.

"Please," N begged, sticking out his glossed lip a little. "The person that I am running after is my childhood friend and... I-It's just now that we can finally reunite... I definitely have to go after him!" He slapped himself in his mind for coming up with the stupidest excuse, but he was a 'maiden in love' at that moment so that boy better release him or he would have to act out of his character – The boy only strengthened his grip around N's wrist, making him wince. N pressed his lips together into a thin line. 'What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?!' The words recurred in his mind until he thought of his very last option – N cupped the boy's cheek, smiling oh-so-innocently. "Don't worry... He's just a childhood friend. They say that high school sweethearts last longer," He said in a sickening sweet voice and leaned in to brush his pretty lips briefly on the boy's cheek. The grip did gradually loosen and N knew that he succeeded.

"I'll see you later~" He winked at the boy before he completely freed himself and returned to his original plan. It was not his intention to wear a girl's uniform. Unfortunately, Hongbin only had a spare of a girl's uniform in the student council room. It was not ever touched and it fitted N's body just fine so he chose to stick with it. Besides, N was curious as to how it would be like in a girl's clothes, wearing make up and having long hair. He shook his head to sort of forget the horrible memory of how a teary Hongbin tried to rip the clothes off of him, yelling, "You're ugly! You can't ever look like a girl so stop! Stop embarrassing Leo-hyung or me! You –" and the rest were terrible lines of curses. N was used to that kind of treatment that he did not even feel any kind of pain with what Hongbin did or said.

Meanwhile, Leo heard his lifelong friend's incredibly loud voice again (just when he thought that he had escaped). The other students near him were giving him weird looks because they could hear Leo's nickname being chanted over and over. When he finally turned around, his and N's eyes met by accident. His lifelong friend's eyes gleamed in delight, but Leo only turned his back at him. This caused N to call him by his real name instead. He was little bit more desperate because he was running out of breath and voice. Girls' shoes were difficult to run with and N only understood that fact after experiencing it himself. He also knew that Leo was ignoring him on purpose and that drove him to shout louder and louder each time.

Leo heard everyone murmuring all around him. It reminded him of that time when N cried in class in order for him to submit and be N's 'friend.' He rolled his eyes, sighing. Seconds after, he heard gasps after a seemingly loud thud. Leo froze on the spot when amidst the buzzing of the students, he heard N's familiar cry, "Taekwoon..." He croaked pitifully, tinges of hurt can be heard from how his voice cracked. "Taekwoon!" N gasped in agony. Of course, Leo succumbed in the end and swallowed his