Stolen Love | Seongjoong

~Chapter Ten~

As Hongjoong entered the workshop for his next class, he could feel the nerves kick in. He was all alone in this class, and knew no one. He scanned the room quickly before taking a seat on one of the stools in the front row.

"Oh. Em. Gee! New kid!" He heard a squeal and looked behind him. Fast approaching was a pair of boys, smiling widely. "Hi I'm Wooyoung!" The boy with black hair stretched his hand out excitedly in front of Hongjoong. Hongjoong smiled shyly before taking his hand in his and lightly shaking it. "I'm Hongjoong." he said with a slight head bow.

"It's nice to meet you Hongjoong, this is my best friend San!" Wooyoung pointed his thumb to the blond male beside him who smiled slightly at him. "Do you mind if we sit with you?" Wooyoung asked and Hongjoong just shook his head in approval. The professor soon walked in and discussed that they would be doing a group project. The rest of the class, Hongjoong found himself leaning against palms that were supported by his elbows prompted to the table, fighting the urge to fall asleep. The professor was going through a powerpoint about the history of top hats in the 1700s. As if Hongjoong will ever need to know that the first top hat was worn by John Hetherington who was a famous English haberdasher in January 1797.

After the lecture was over, Wooyoung and San offered to show Hongjoong around a bit before he had to meet up with Seonghwa to head home. After they gave him a quick tour around the design department, he found Mingi by the gardens again. He introduced Wooyoung and San to Mingi and asked if they wanted to hang out. Hongjoong offered to buy everyone coffee as they talked about their courses and upcoming assignments. Not long later, San and Wooyoung unfortunately had to leave for their next class. It was nearing three p.m and Hongjoong nervously tapped his foot against the concrete.

"Hey, hyung. If you're not too busy tomorrow, do you wanna meet up to go over notes? You've missed quite a lot and I can help you catch up. We can meet up somewhere after we stop by the bar." Mingi suggested after taking a sip of his iced americano and placing it back down on the table.

"Really? Thank you so much! I'll ask Rowoon hyung but I think I should be good for tomorrow." Hongjoong replied. They continued to lightly converse and Hongjoong was really enjoying it. It was the first time in a really long time, he could sit back and enjoy his time with Mingi. Unfortunately, that joy was short lived as a Seonghwa came strutting down to the gardens, his bag swung over his shoulder and hands in his coat pockets. He stopped just in front of Mingi and Hongjoon's table, nudging his head in the direction of the car park. "Let's go." is all he said as he began walking away again. Hongjoong quickly stood up, gathering his things in a rush. "Hurry up, I don't have all day." he continued coldly, turning his head over his shoulder to look at Hongjoong struggling. He stopped and turned around, watching as Hongjoong hugged his tall friend and hurried over to him.

They began walking, side by side towards the parking lot. Hongjoong noticed the way their hands brushed against each other ever so slightly from time to time. When they reached Seonghwa's car, Hongjoong was hesitant to get in. But Seonghwa's annoyed expression he wore on his face made him bury that hesitation and just do it. The ride home was silent. And not the comfortable type. Hongjoong felt so tense seated in the passenger seat next to Seonghwa as he drove out of the city and up to the mountains that he wished that a black hole would open up and swallow him. When they arrived home, Hongjoong was quick to get out of the car and ran up to his room.

At the dinner that evening, he picked at his food and stared into nothing. His phone pinged with a notification. It was a message from Mingi. He had completely forgotten about his interview tomorrow at the bar. "Hey Rowoon hyung." Hongjoong started as he looked up at the said male across the island counter putting dishes away. Hongjoong decided to eat his meal in the kitchen instead of joining Seonghwa at the dining table. It felt way less suffocating that way. Rowoon hummed in response, setting the last few wine glasses back in the cupboard. "Tomorrow I've got a job interview at a bar my friend works at."