Serendipity | SunKi Au

52: The power of friendship

The two boys sat across from each other, looking each other in the eyes then to the left, to the right, down, up, until the process repeated. The younger of the two still has a mad face and the other tried to look unwavering but failed miserably, looking worried at the situation.

"Oh, god, just talk!" Jay who was beside a popcorn-eating Sunghoon exclaims in exasperation, groaning in the process. "It's suffocating! Come on, deal with your shit!" He says, glancing between the two with a stern expression. 

Sunoo rolls his eyes, "I still have no idea why you two are here. In my room." 

"Because you two dealt with your shit and now all we're friends," Sunghoon intervenes, juggling with the bowl of popcorn when he took his hands off just to do jazz hands, adding effect to his statement. 

"Can you stop munching on popcorn?" Jungwon finally speaks, snapping his head to glare at him. 

Sunghoon mouths a sorry, putting more of the treat into his mouth and chewing on it slowly which only made the action more insufferable. 

Sunoo rolls his eyes before they land on the boy in front of him. "I'm sorry for pushing you yesterday, it was uncalled for. You were just trying to help me. I'm sorry," he tells him genuinely.

"You bet it was uncalled for!" The younger exclaims, rolling his eyes at him. "I get that you're sad and all but as your best friend, I just wanted to help and do as Riki asked me," he shrugs. "You're forgiven."

The older furrows his eyebrow. "What do you mean 'do as Riki asked you?'"

Jungwon widens his eyes in realization, "Opps?" he laughs nervously. He stands up slowly, "Well, gentlemen, this has been lovely but I think it's about time I retire. Toodles!" And he ran off, the older ones deciding to not follow.

"So..." Sunghoon says, laughing awkwardly, his eyes dancing between the two other boys. 

"Get out of my room," Sunoo says and they didn't have to be told twice before Sunghoon was stumbling out while Jay just shook his head in disappointment and followed behind his moron of a friend.

Despite his nonchalant demeanor, Sunoo smiled as soon as they were out the door.

-----

Ni-Ki was back to dancing. It made coping easier, to say the least. At least there was something from his happiness that could never be taken away unless both of his legs got chopped off. 

"What's the possibility of me getting my legs chopped off?" He suddenly asks his best friend as he stops dancing. 

"What?" Taki questions after diverting his eyes from the floor where his math homework was laying, his eyes widening at the suddenness of the question.

Riki laughs, "Just random thoughts," he answers, shrugging before turning back to the mirror. 

The room stays quiet for some minutes, the only sounds were shoes squeaking and the lead of a pencil hitting the floor from where Taki was working on his homework. 

Things were better, better than yesterday, Ni-Ki had to admit. It would just take some acceptance for him to fully feel at home once again. His mom has already started to count money, looking for homes in Seoul to move back as soon as possible. Clearly, the teenage boy wasn't the only one eager to get back there and he was glad for that. He didn't want to just go back and have his mom unhappy. In Korea, there were many things awaiting him like his dreams, his friends, the studio, school, and Sunoo. Along his thought process, he wondered what his mom was going back to. He thought long and hard but nothing ever came to mind. Had he not paid enough attention to her during his time there? What was she going back to? He came to wonder until he settled on asking his mom directly one day. 

He was back in an all too familiar scenery and he decided to cherish that for the time being. 

"Hey, Riki," Taki calls out over the music which led the other to turn it off, turning to look at the other expectantly."Come here."

He grabs a towel from his bag before going to sit in front of the other boy. "What's up?" He asks, patting the towel on his forehead and neck repeatedly.

"So, I have been thinking long and hard about you going back to Seoul," he starts off, his face in full concentration mode. Riki nods, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Didn't Yuta-san sell the mansion because he was moving there?" He questions and suddenly Ni-Ki's face flickers with realization.

"Y- yes, he did. He invited us to come as well but mom thought that it wasn't the time to leave. Granny was sick at the time he offered and later she passed away so we weren't ready to leave." He widens his eyes. "God, I hadn't thought about it!"

Taki smiles at him sadly, "There you go, man," he says casually, leaning back onto the studio's wall. 

"There we go..." Riki says to himself lowly, giving Taki a smile. "Is it okay? If I leave? I feel like I'm being selfish..." he states after a few seconds, looking at his best friend nervously.

"You're right, it's selfish," the boy responds with a playful smile. "But sometimes you have to be selfish. I'll miss you and all but I'd feel guilty if I was holding you back. We've proved that some miles won't tear us apart, so let's prove it again," he tells him, smiling cheerfully, playfully nudging his arm. This time, it was genuine, unlike the last time the other left for Seoul. 

"Oh, the power of friendship," Riki says teasingly.

Taki smirks, "The power of friendship."

-----

As soon as the boy got home, he gave his mom a kiss on the cheek and rushed to his room, ignoring all the shouts his mom threw at him.

Currently, he was pacing back and forth in his room, his phone clutched between both of his hands. 

It had been around three months since he had contact with Yuta. The last time, he had informed the other that they were in Korea and that they should meet up soon. Something that didn't happen. He didn't blame Yuta, he was a busy man after all, but he felt a little guilty that now that he was calling him, it was to ask him for something.

He takes a deep breath before sitting on his bed. He opens his phone and goes to the man's contact, his thumb hovering over it. He takes a sigh before pressing on it and putting the phone against his ear. He puts one of his thumbs into his mouth, the unoccupied one.

There was nothing to worry about, it's his Yuta-senpai after all, his brother.