aversion | bbangnyu

57

"I'm surprised you agreed to play," Sangyeon smiled as he watched Younghoon walk into the gymnasium.

Before the boy had a chance to respond, Eric ran up and tackled him with a hug. "I haven't see you in so long, Younghoon, I miss you," he whined.

A small laugh slipped out of Younghoon when Eric detached himself. "There's only a week left before we graduate," explained the boy quietly, "soon I won't have the chance to play with you guys anymore."

"I'm going to be here all alone."

Sangyeon put an arm around Eric and pulled the younger against his body. "You'll be just fine, yeah? You can make other friends."

"Eric? Yeah right," Juyeon joked as he joined the group, dropping his backpack off in front of the bleachers.

"I'm going to miss you the least."

Everybody but Juyeon found Eric's words quite comical. "Let's just get a game started before we year each other apart," Sangyeon suggested before jogging across the court to grab a basketball.

They played their usual game, Sangyeon and Eric against Younghoon and Juyeon. Since sophomore year, every game they played, Younghoon and Juyeon won. That was mostly because Sangyeon didn't like playing too hard with his friends to minimize any risk of injury and Eric was always distracted.

However, this time, there was something different with the duos performance. It was as if they weren't even teammates—as if they were strangers.

There was that word again. Strangers. Everybody seemed to be a stranger to Younghoon those days.

"How are things with you and Yeri?" Younghoon asked after they'd already been playing for some time. At that point, nobody was trying too hard as they all knew this was probably the last time they'd all be together in that specific gymnasium.

"It's good," Sangyeon beamed, hugging the ball against his chest, "she's so pretty—and funny. I think she's really funny. She has the cutest laugh."

"When we hang out after school," Eric started, pausing to take the ball from Sangyeon's arms and passing it to Juyeon, "that's all he talks about. How pretty Yeri is and how sweet Yeri is."

Laughing at the younger's words, Younghoon grumbled, "Yeri isn't sweet—I think that just means she really likes Sangyeon."

"You know her?"

Younghoon raised an eyebrow at Juyeon's confusion. "Yeah, we have a couple classes together—we're friends," he answered.

"I'm sorry—you do what you want I guess but I just can't deal with that. I won't."

"Deal with what?" Sangyeon interjected, wanting to know why he had such a problem with his girlfriend.

"Her being friends with that faggot. It's bad enough you're dating her—she's probably the same way. I wouldn't be surprised if she cheats on you with a girl. I can't believe my parents pay for this school and I have to deal with somebody like him. We'd all be better off if somebody would just man up and beat the living shit out of him—get him to leave for good."

"I'm going to beat the living shit out of you."

The words came from Younghoon almost too calmly. He just stared at Juyeon for a few silent moments before taking him by the collar of his shirt and screaming, "Say one more fucking word about him and I swear to god I'll kill you!"

Pushing Younghoon off of him, Juyeon straightened out his shirt and spat, "What the hell is your problem!? He's a worthless fucking faggot—"

When he heard Juyeon call him that word again, Younghoon's jumped on top younger, hitting him as hard as he could over and over again. "His name is Chanhee! He has a name—he's a person!"

Younghoon wasn't anywhere close to finished with Juyeon when he was pulled off from him. Sangyeon held Younghoon firmly in his arms as Eric ran to help Juyeon get off the floor.

"I love him!" Younghoon yelled, his voice breaking as a tear rolled down his cheek.

The room seemed to freeze, they were all staring at him in disbelief. "I'm in love with Choi Chanhee," he spoke, his voice quieter this time, "if you're going to talk about anybody that way—use my name instead."

Sangyeon's grip on Younghoon's arms loosened. He expected it—he saw the way Younghoon looked at that boy—but it was still so hard to wrap his head around. "You're...you two are together?" Sangyeon whispered.

"Not anymore," Younghoon muttered before yanking his arms out of the elder's and walking over to grab his backpack. He slung it over his shoulder and began walking towards the door. "If you even think about laying a finger of him," he spoke into the air, yet all of them knew his words were directed at Juyeon, "I'll kill you. And I'll make sure Sangyeon won't be there to stop me."

Younghoon didn't look back as he left that gymnasium for the last time. He walked and walked until he was in front of his car. He dipped a shaky hand into the front pocket of his backpack and pulled out his car keys, quickly climbing inside.

He couldn't drive. His hands were still shaking too much. For years, Younghoon had told himself he'd never lay his hands on another person no matter what. No matter what.

Something inside of him just snapped when heard somebody threaten to beat the living shit out of the boy he loved. Maybe he was just protecting Chanhee or maybe deep down he was just like his father.

He might've broken Juyeon's nose. His father broke Youngsik's nose when him and Younghoon were boys. Youngsik had spilled something on the man's laptop. He remembered seeing it happen and then having his mom pull him into his bedroom and tell him his brother fell and hit the table in the living room. He remembered being so confused.

His father hurt people when he got angry. It had always been that way. But this time Younghoon was the one to resort to his fists when he got upset.

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