Black Leather Bag | JiKyu

6|Not Goodbye

The next day came. Jihoon was at the apartment. He didn't feel like going to school after what happened yesterday.
Right now, he was getting frustrated again. Yesterday, he thought everything would be finally over as soon as he watched Junkyu being taken away. But he should have known better.

"And how am I supposed to take precautions when you're not gonna tell me whether or not he's been released?" Jihoon walked around the apartment. It was quiet on the other line. "Oh, my God. You already released him, didn't you?" he asked, frustrated.

He didn't wait for an answer.

"Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna...I'm gonna take that as a yes." he ended the call and threw his phone to the floor. It created a loud noise that was heard throughout the apartment. His phone miraculously didn't break into pieces.

"Damn it!"

ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

Hyunsuk had heard about what happened about the incident at school, and because he was worried he told Jeongwoo. Who told their parents, who called Jihoon and demanded he come home.

Hyunsuk and Jihoon were at the apartment. There was a somber atmosphere admist the quietness. They were seated apart and not facing each other.

Jihoon was at the dining table while Hyunsuk sat at the couch.

"My family wants to come pick me up." Jihoon first spoke up.

Hyunsuk nodded. He didn't want Jihoon to leave like this but he knew it was for the best.

"Okay." he said.

Jihoon wasn't satisfied by his answer. He wanted Hyunsuk to say something else.

"Okay?" he looked at the older.

"I think you should go." Hyunsuk said.

"What, just leave?" Jihoon asked him.

"Come away with me, then, if the family thing's too much. We can go to somewhere it's cheap." Hyunsuk said smiling at him.

"Hyung, we can't. You're a trainee, you can't just leave if you want to debut." Jihoon said.

"Then maybe just for a while?" Hyunsuk said.

"Yeah, but he would still be here the minute we got back." Jihoon put out.

Hyunsuk nodded, then he thought of something.

"Well, then, guess you'll have to try the slow fade."

"What's that?"

"You apologize, tell him the problem is you, not him, and that you have to go and deal with your, um, issues. By the time you're back, he'll have moved on to someone else." Hyunsuk explained.

"So, lie, in other words?" Jihoon questioned.

Hyunsuk nodded. "Right to his face. I'll take you through it. I've been practicing to be a master of the slow fade."

ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

It was Friday.

Jihoon was riding his skateboard, headed towards the library. He stopped just right outside and looked at the open gates. He was hesitant. He wasn't sure if it will work, but he was already running out of options.

Jihoon proceeded to go inside.

The library was quiet, as always. Jihoon walked through the many bookshelves. He was going right towards one particular area that he remembered vividly. He peeked through the gaps in the books and saw Junkyu. He was seated at a table with his head down and an unopened book was right in front of him.