Faded Sun| SunSun

[Chapter 40]

Posting all final chapters today- Read chapters 38 + 39 first!

The group rushed into the station, and it felt like all eyes were on them. Mi-Sun planted herself center of the front desk, slamming her hands down to catch the workers attention. Sunoo and Jungwon stood either side of her, resting their arms on the counter. Sunghoon, Heeseung, and Jay stood behind their respective partners. 

When the receptionist looked up, she let out a little yelp, caught off guard mainly by the slam, but also by the amount of people. "Oh hello, what can I do for you?"

"Do we need to bail someone out if they get arrested?" Mi-Sun questioned, her arm suddenly tapped by Sunoo.

"Ask about Jake and Riki first." Sunoo whispered, feeling a little nervous being in a police station.

Mi-Sun cocked a brow. "Why are you whispering?"

Sunghoon pushed his arm between the siblings, leaning in and placing his hand on the counter. "Are Nishimura Riki and Jake Sim here?"

"We already know they are." Heeseung groaned.

"We know they got arrested, but what if they've already been bailed out or something." Sunghoon responded, and Heeseung silently agreed with the reasoning.

"They are here, Jake called me from one of the phones." Jay stated, still wondering why no one had asked how they knew the boys got arrested in the first place. It was that phone call. "Wait, who else would bail them out?"

Everyone took a second to ponder that question, and the receptionist thought she finally had a chance to speak. Though, she was quickly proven wrong.

"They must have other friends." Sunghoon replied, not too confident in that answer. 

"Doesn't Riki have that student mentor? It could have been him." Sunoo added in.

Mi-Sun rolled her eyes, they were just wasting time with these what ifs. She turned back to the receptionist, focusing on what they actually needed to confirm. "Are Nishimura Riki and Jake Sim here?" 

"Uh let me check."

Jungwon leaned over the counter, as the woman typed the boys names into the system. "Riki's here!" He cheered, taking away the woman's chance to speak yet again. "And Jake!"

"Okay so what do we do now? Do we bail them out?" Heeseung questioned the receptionist.

"I'll-"

"Have the other kids been arrested too?" Jay interrupted. "I really hope it's not just Jake and Riki."

"Do you have their names?" The receptionist spoke faster than lightning, it seemed to be the only way to get anything out.

Heeseung shook his head, letting out a groan. "No we don't. Can't you just check who came in with them?"

"I-"

"It doesn't matter really." Jungwon said, playing with the leaves of the potted plant on the counter. "I want to know what they actually got arrested for? People fight all the time and don't get arrested. Plus I can't ever imagine Jake getting into a fight."

"What did they get arrested for?" Sunoo whispered to the receptionist. 

"Oh um, I can-"

"Jake slapped this kid who stole his milk once." Jay said, hand cuffing their chin as they thought more about it. "But we were like five."

"Everyone's done something like that when they were five." Mi-Sun replied, pointing to Heeseung. "I remember him throwing sand in some kids eyes."

"Wow that's really rude Heeseung." Jungwon gasped.

Heeseung crossed his arms, and scoffed. "I was five."

"Can everyone shut the hell up!" The receptionist screamed, having zero patience left. She stared out at the very awkward looking group, who were clearly taken aback. Sucking in a deep breath, she composed herself again. "The boys were arrested for disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace. You don't need to bail them out, they'll be released once the correct paper work is signed. They'll need to pay a fine, but that's it."

"Can we see them?" 

____

The answer was no.

So, the group waited, and waited, and waited.

Two hours in total.

The rain was as heavy as the mood, leaving eight people walking somber through the downpour. This may just have been the longest day of their lives. From one extreme to another, not one person wasn't tired of it. Life was really giving them a beating, and they really wondered when they'd catch a break. 

It wasn't strange for Sunoo to hold his friends hand, but he'd never held on this tight before. Thinking of what happened today, terrified him. He was never going to let Riki get into a situation like that ever again. Neither was Jungwon, as he was clinging onto the boy from the other side. 

"I'm sorry guys...I'm so so sorry." Riki's voice was quiet, but raspy, the result of overexerting himself. 

Sunoo glanced to Jungwon, both of them were unsure of what to say. Could they really say that it's okay? For something as extreme as this? They didn't need an apology, they wanted an explanation.

"Why did you do it?" Jungwon asked after some hesitation; Riki tensed up at the question.

Sunoo took a quick look to the people in front and behind them. Mi-Sun and Heeseung had walked quite ahead, and Sunghoon, Jake, and Jay, were a fair space behind. "No one else is listening, just relax. You don't have to tell us until you're comfortable."

"I do want to tell you guys..." Riki trailed off, taking a glance backwards. "I'm just not ready to tell everyone yet." 

It was simple, Riki felt embarrassed. He had already cost his friends their careers, and now he'd created such a fuss. He knew they were disappointed in him, but no one could be more disappointed than himself. He really thought he had grown past doing things like this.

"I'll tell you one day, I promise."

"Okay." Sunoo slowly nodded, having to accept that the truth would come later on. "I'll hold you to that." He reached forward his pinky finger.

Riki let out a small chuckle, twisting his pinky around Sunoo's.

"Hey I want in on that too." Jungwon whined, pushing forward his pinky finger. 

"Can you even do a pinky promise with three people?" 

"We can try." Jungwon said, awkwardly positioning his finger, until it slightly resembled a pinky promise. Though it did look more like a weird blob of twisted fingers. "There."

Jungwon's antics made the younger crack a smile, pulling back his finger. "You happy now?"

"Very." Jungwon replied cheerfully. "Should we get something to eat? I really want out of this rain."

Sunoo hummed, he'd actually been feeling hungry for a while now. "How about tt-"

"Tteokbokki."

"Tteokbokki."

Both boys uttered in unison.

"Maybe I was gonna say something else." Sunoo pouted. "I could have been about to sing TT by Twice, you never know."