aversion | bbangnyu

20

Chanhee slowly sipped on his drink as he listened to Younghoon rant about his father, arms flailing wildly in the air as he did so. Per the elder's request before the two could part ways after class, they found their way to a familiar coffee shop in their town.

Although Chanhee wasn't all too knowledgeable of who Younghoon really was, he felt as if everything was falling into place as he listened to him. He felt like for the first time he actually understood Younghoon. He understood why the boy was so tired all the time and why he could never sleep.

"I just wish he would let me say one word without telling me in disrespecting him..." the elder said before taking a drink of his own coffee.

"I'm really sorry, Younghoon," Chanhee said sincerely.

Although the words were meant to be serious, Younghoon let out a quiet laugh. "Why're you apologizing? It's not like you've done anything wrong," he spoke, raising an eyebrow as he spoke to the younger.

Caught off guard by the reaction, Chanhee fell silent, trying to come up with what to say next. "I know—its just...I makes me feel bad to know you have to deal with that."

"You've been like the...best thing that's happened in my life...for like years," Younghoon rambled, "you shouldn't feel bad about anything."

"What?" Chanhee's voice was hardly above a whisper as he spoke. It was obvious that both of them enjoyed their friendship, but Chanhee had no idea he meant so much to the elder.

"I like you, Chanhee, a lot."

A smile formed on Chanhee's lips before he said, "I like you too, Younghoon. I'm glad we were able to be friends."

I'm glad we're able to be friends.

Friends.

Younghoon's face fell as he realized just how misinterpreted his words had been. "That's not—"

"Just a second," Chanhee interrupted, pulling his phone out of his back pocket, "my mom is calling me."

As Chanhee walked away from the table, Younghoon let out a dramatic groan. "How can something go so poorly..." he whispered to himself.

The boy sat in utter embarrassment until Chanhee came back. "My mom wants me to come home—I didn't realize it was past four. But she said you can come over if you want?" The younger asked as he slipped back in to his seat.

There was a silence between the two as Younghoon was still trying to cope with the unbelievable extent to which he just failed. "I..." the elder started reluctantly, feeling Chanhee's eyes fixed on him, "I have a lot of homework to do. I have a paper due this week that I haven't even started."

Finishing the rest of his drink, Chanhee hummed. "I find you much more entertaining than my science homework...but I probably should get some work done too," he responded softly. 

✨✨✨

"Oh—hi Younghoon," Kevin's mother said sweetly when she opened the door to reveal her son's friend.

He quickly bowed to the woman before asking, "is Kevin home? I was hoping to talk to him."

She nodded. "He's just in the living room, go right ahead, dear."

Managing to navigate his way through the unfamiliar home, Younghoon found himself standing in the entrance of the living room. He froze when he saw Kevin sitting on the carpeted floor, playing uno with the boy from the picture he saw weeks ago. "Your...mom told me you were in here," he spoke awkwardly, causing both of the boys to jump.

"God Younghoon—since when are you so quiet?" Kevin asked as he set his cards down in a neat pile next to him, "what's up?"

"I really need to talk to you," he glanced over at Jacob before whispering, "it's about that one thing..."

A small laugh fell from Kevin's lips when he noticed how tense the elder seemed to be around Jacob. "You don't have to worry about him. He doesn't go to our school..." he paused to lean in the same way Younghoon did and mocked, "and we're dating so he doesn't care if you like a boy."

Younghoon's cheeks turned pink when the statement hit his ears. "Kevin..."

A small smile formed on Jacob's lips before saying, "I can go somewhere else if you want to talk to Kevin alone."

The boy possessed the softest voice Younghoon had ever heard and it almost made him regret questioning his trustworthiness. "It's fine. I think I'll need help from both of after what happened today." 

"What did you do?" Kevin asked, knowing the elder must have done something incredibly stupid just by the urgency of his words.

Sitting down on the couch, Younghoon got comfortable before starting the explanation of events. "So after class Chanhee asked If I wanted to hang out—and of course I wasn't going to say no...we were just talking about whatever and then one thing led to another and I was complaining about my dad."

"I don't get why you need help?"

"I'm not finished," Younghoon said to Kevin before continuing his ramble, "Chanhee apologized to me and I was like why are you apologizing you're not my dad? Then I said something like you're the best thing in my life and followed it up by saying I like you, Chanhee. But then...he said I like you too Younghoon, I'm glad we're friends."

Both Kevin and Jacob's eyes widened upon hearing the last sentence. "You told him he was the best thing in your life and said you liked him and he thought it was about friendship..." Kevin muttered as he shook his head, "either he's really bad at reading people or just really stupid."

"He's not stupid," Younghoon quickly defended, "I think he understood but just wanted to tell me he doesn't feel the same way."

"Maybe he did understand but he's just nervous. Relationships and feelings can be scary...maybe he just isn't ready to admit his own feelings," Jacob said softly, dramatically contrasting his boyfriend's take on the situation.

A sigh fell from Younghoon's lips before he mumbled, "I just don't know what to do..."

"Younghoon, do you actually want to be in a relationship...or do you just have a crush?"

The room fell silent as he thought carefully about Kevin's question. "I think I do want to...be in a relationship," he said slowly.

"There's your answer," Jacob responded, a smile resting on his lips, "If you like him that much, than I think you should keep trying." 

———

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