Sweet Rejection | seongjoong

Two

"Okay, so I don't know much about him. All I know is that he's the son of a famous CEO and will take over his fathers company in the future. Still, that doesn't matter to me since my parents have tried setting me up with so many guys like him." Yeosang tells Hongjoong. "All you have to do is go on the date this weekend and make him reject you. Don't make it so obvious though. Just do things that'll make him say, 'he's not my type'."

"I've never gone on a date before so I'm sure it'll be easy to get rejected." Hongjoong tells him. "I guess I'll come up with something when I'm there."

"Thanks so much, Joong!" Yeosang smiles. "I already had plans and couldn't change the time for either of them."

"Yeah... it's all for my brother." Hongjoong sighs and Yeosang's smile fades.

"Joong, you know I'd give you the money even if you didn't go on the blind date. You don't have to-"

"Yeah I know, Yeo. You have a good heart, but I don't want it to seem like I'm taking advantage of it."

"No, why would you say that-" Yeosang shakes his head and Hongjoong cuts him off. 

"You're my best friend and I know you wouldn't see it that way, but it's just the kind of person I am. I don't like receiving without giving anything in return." Hongjoong frowns then looks up at Yeosang and gives him a small smile. "But thank you, Yeosang. You're the best of the best friends."

"That's what I think about you too." Yeosang smiles at him. "Now come on, let's pick an outfit for you to wear this weekend!" He stands up and walks over to his closet, which has A LOT of clothes.

-

"Oh no! I'm going to be late!" Seonghwa runs out of his house and towards his car.

As he's running towards his car, he sees some middle school looking kids picking on another boy, which makes him stop running.

"What the hell are you doing in this neighborhood? You don't belong here!" One of the boys laughs. "This is a rich neighborhood... something you're not." He then looks down at the other boys shoes and laughs even more. "You thought you could copy me? My shoes are ten times more expensive than your cheap shoes! Yours clearly don't have a brand!"

"First you try to beat him at soccer and now you try copying his shoes? What a copycat!" Another boy tells him.

"Wh-who cares about the brand as long as I can walk in them." The boy tells them, looking down at the ground.

"Who cares about the brand as long as I can walk in them." The older boy mocks and grabs the collar of the other boys shirt. "Stop trying to copy everything I do and everything I wear. You'll never be me. You're poor!"

Seonghwa looks over at the boys and decides to stand up for him. He knows he'll be late for work and his dad will most likely get mad at him, but it doesn't matter to him right now.

"These kids..." Seonghwa says as he walks over to them and rolls his eyes.

"And who are you?" One of the mean boys crosses his arms over his chest and glares at him.

"Why do you care so much about brands?" Seonghwa asks him, ignoring his question. "I could just write the brand on his shoes with a pen and they'd look exactly like yours, so what's the big deal?"

"Brand shoes are made for rich people and those cheap shoes are made for the poor... Like him." The mean boy answers.

"And you're rich? Kid, according to my eyes, I can see you're still in middle school. Probably just started it and you have the nerve to be talking about the poor and the rich?" Seonghwa raises his eyebrow. "Did you make that money or is it your mommy and daddy's?" He pouts. "Listen, kid... when you grow up you'll have to work for your own money and then you'll understand... hopefully."

"Whatever! At the end of the day, I have the best shoes and he's stuck with that." He points at the other boys shoes.

"Well, you know..." Seonghwa leans in to whisper to the boy. "I've heard there's been a lot of thieves around here that are stealing rich peoples stuff regardless of their age. I actually heard a boy with brand shoes got his shoes taken away and had to walk home barefoot."

The mean boy just looks at him and his eyes widen. "Why would they steal my shoes? They wouldn't fit them."

"To sell them." Seonghwa replies. "I've heard they especially steal them from younger kids like you since they're weak."

The kids eyes widen and he picks up his backpack, then quickly runs away with the other boy.

"What's your name?" Seonghwa smiles at the boy who's looking down at his off brand shoes.

"H-hongseok..." The boy tries stopping himself from crying.

"It's okay, Hongseok. Don't listen to them, okay?" Seonghwa gives him a small smile and the boy nods. "But what were you doing around here? Did you come to look for someone?"

"Actually... s-someone from school lives around here, so I was just-"

"A friend of yours?" Seonghwa asks and the boy shakes his head. "Then did you want to talk to them?" He smiles and the boy nods.

Seonghwa looks down at his watch and sees he's really late for work. "How do you get to school?" He asks him.

"I usually walk there."

"Why don't you take a taxi today?" Seonghwa takes his wallet out to give him some money.

"Wh-what? No. My big brother says not to accept money from strangers. I can't."

"It's okay, take it." Seonghwa takes his hand and gives him the money. "I'd give you a ride to school, but I'm really late for work."

"W-well, thank you."

Seonghwa sees a taxi driving towards them so he makes the stop sign. "See you later, Hongseok." He smiles at him and Hongseok smiles back.

"Thank you for standing up for me." He tells him before getting in the taxi.

Seonghwa waves at him and the taxi drivers away.