flowering // tbz k.sw x male reader

seventeen //

"Liar."

Jinyoung stopped beside Hwang Hyunjin, his hands in his hoodie pockets lazily. Hyunjin frowned, recognizing him as one of [m/n]'s best friends, Bae Jinyoung. "Can I help you…?"

"I promised [m/n] that I'll protect him from weird boys," Jinyoung said, looking at him with firm eyes but a slight smile. "He likes you a lot, and I had my suspicions about you. You turned out to be decent, and I trusted [m/n] for a bit. But you're a liar."

"How am I a liar? How have I lied?" Hyunjin asked, flicking his head to move his hair from his face.

"You don't like him as much as he likes you. So why are you leading him on?"

Hyunjin was quiet for a moment. "He's really happy right now. I want to fall in love as well and hopefully match his feelings eventually."

Jinyoung almost scoffed as he looked at the ground. "Eventually, wow. [m/n] is madly in love, okay? Like, he can't stop thinking about you. You bother him to the point where he can't concentrate. Don't lead him on. I'm his best friend, and if I ever find out that you hurt him, you'll never have a moment of peace again. Capiche?"

"I'm not leading him on."

"Well, then reject him properly," Jinyoung said quickly. "You'll hurt him by leading him on, and leading him on will just make me angry. He's a softie, even though he tries to seem tough. If you're not ready to love him, Sunwoo will take him away from you. Do you really want to lose to Kim Sunwoo?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, don't lead him on," Jinyoung said. "Be honest with him. Tell him you're not ready for a relationship at all. Allow him to open his heart again before he becomes obsessed with the idea of having a chance with you. [m/n]… will hide himself again if he gets hurt. I can't have that happen to him."

Hyunjin seemed to frown. "Why do you care so much about him? Do you like him or something?"

"Not at all," Jinyoung chuckled. "[m/n] is just someone I'm close with. I know him inside and out. To think that he'd get hurt emotionally again… makes me angry. [m/n] falls in love too easily, and the last time he fell in love, he got hurt. Badly. The fact that he trusts you with his heart means something. If you don't tell him you don't want to be with him, I will."

Hyunjin watched as Jinyoung walked away and he sighed to himself. It was true that he wasn't really in love with [m/n] — he just wanted to make him happy. [m/n] was too sweet to ignore, and he seemed so happy to call their outing a date. Hyunjin wondered if he'd have feelings for the other, but turns out he didn't.

"So why did I think I like him…?"

Hyunjin groaned to himself, leaning against the wall tiredly. He didn't know what to think. All he knew was that he didn't really like [m/n] and had to think of a way to reject him. After all, he didn't want to seem like the bad guy. He simply sighed, heading to the hall where the boys would watch a movie.

•

[m/n] had fallen asleep against Jungmo's shoulder, and Jinyoung took the responsibility of carrying him to his room, since Jungmo was as thin as a twig. Jihoon, who was the actual strongest person, hadn't even watched the movie. He had gone to his room to video call his mother, so he eventually just stayed in his room.

[m/n] lied against Jinyoung's back, snoring ever so softly as Jinyoung carried him to his room. Jungmo walked beside him, yawning as well since it was quite late. Most of the boys were tired, while others were still energetic enough to mess around. Sunwoo was quite tired as well, trudging near the end of [m/n]'s trio of friends.

"Sunwoo-ya," Jungmo suddenly suggested, earning the attention of the boy beside him, "do you want to swap rooms? I'm sure you'd rather be in the same room as [m/n]?"

"No, I'd rather let [m/n] have his space," Sunwoo replied, his eyes barely off the boy on Jinyoung's back.

Jinyoung looked at him, chuckling slightly before bumping [m/n] up further onto his back. "You're so… I don't know. You like him, don't you?"

"I honestly think [m/n] and Sunwoo are a better match for each other," Jungmo commented, looking up at the sky for a moment. "But honestly, [m/n] is such an unsure person. He bounces between the idea of dating Hyunjin and Sunwoo… not realising how he'd hurt them both in the process."

"It's difficult to just choose," Jinyoung said. "Besides, one of them is right here. Can we not talk about [m/n]'s awful taste in men?"

Sunwoo frowned at those words. "Awf—?! Hey!"

"Well, you don't exactly meet his or my standards, so how the hell did you end up on [m/n]'s list of people he likes?" Jinyoung asked with a frown. "He's really particular when it comes to romance. So why are you someone he likes? He prefers the reserved, gentle type."

Jungmo raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case, why is he friends with Jihoon—?"

"Jungmo, that's mean," Jinyoung laughed slightly. "But anyways — [m/n] likes you, for some reason. That's a damn good opportunity, because [m/n] doesn't trust everyone. There's a reason he's so popular, yet only has three close friends. Somehow… you fit his type. You made him like you, and that's not easy."

Sunwoo looked down, a slight smile on his expression. "Despite that… I want him to choose Hyunjin, since he's closest to his actual ideal type."

"Screw [m/n]'s ideal type — he likes you." Jungmo looked at the bickering two and grinned before he ran over to his bedroom door, opening the way so that Jinyoung could carry [m/n] in. Jinyoung turned around one last time to face Sunwoo. "[m/n] is my best friend. I want what's best for him. You make him happy, while Hyunjin makes him confused. You should keep making him happy, or I'll be pissed."

Sunwoo watched as the two entered the room before smiling to himself and running up the staircase to his own bedroom. He might have more of a chance with the student council member than he thought.