The One He Tried To Forget | 18+ |

14

"Geonbae!"

The clink of glass on glass, the wasteful spill of alcohol on the table, and the tipping back of vodka shots were beginning to annoy Jung Kook. He wished he hadn't agreed to meet with his friends, but when one of them found out that Jung Kook had returned for good from abroad, they had rounded up the rest of the crew and arranged this get-together.

It has been three weeks since the day when Jin told Yoon Gi that he was going on a date. Three weeks since he said that he liked the guy because he was sweet and was always there for him. Three weeks of watching Jin behind the wheel of the town car, smiling discreetly to himself as he drove Yoon Gi and Jung Kook to and from the hospital. Smiling because he was probably thinking of the guy.

It had angered Jung Kook greatly. Infuriated him to the point where he was barely civil whenever he spoke to Jin. And Jin remained indifferent, as if nothing that Jung Kook said or did meant anything to him. It had brought out the worst in Jung Kook that his cousin had threatened him with a change of driver to rein him back in line. It was hard because the words that Jin said kept haunting him.

"I have high hopes about this person. He's sweet and has always been there for me."

Well what about me? Jung Kook thought bitterly. I was always there for you. I chased after you even when my friends were wary of you. I stayed with you even when they told me to leave you. Together, we made them come around. They learned to accept you. Was I not good enough to spend the rest of your life with?

Jung Kook's eyes narrowed as he chugged back the rest of his beer. This is supposed to be a fun night catching up with old friends. Not a time to be thinking morosely about Kim bloody Seok Jin, who's probably out on another date with Mr Sweet, Jung Kook scoffed.

At first, Jung Kook hadn't minded spending an evening with his former classmates. After all, the last time they had all seen each other was at their secondary school graduation. After that, everyone had gone off to further their studies. Most stayed in the country, while the wealthy ones opted to go abroad.

Jung Kook never meant to go abroad because he wanted to stay with Jin. He had even applied to the same campus as Jin, and they were both thrilled when Jung Kook was accepted into the university's medical program, while Jin was going into their engineering program. But things had turned out differently because Jin had disappeared without a word to anyone, and it led to a brokenhearted Jung Kook leaving everything familiar to him to start over in a foreign country.

"So JK, how does it feel to be back home?" The burly man who organised the meet-up sat down beside Jung Kook before reaching for his fourth mug of beer. "Bet it's not the same as being abroad, eh? For one thing, the locals aren't as hot."

The man guffawed at his own joke as some of the beer in his mug sloshed over the side and landed in his lap. Jung Kook deftly sidled away to avoid the splash zone.

It wasn't the first time tonight that one of his former classmates had joked about Jung Kook's lack of a partner since his return. The ones who didn't go abroad were envious of the ones that did, and they ribbed the ones that returned who were still single, accusing them of being picky because they were spoiled by the people they dated at their foreign universities. It irritated Jung Kook -- the small-town thinking and the pettiness.

"I bet you're glad that that no good Kim Seok Jin took off the way he did," the man continued. "Imagine if he had remained. Pfft! You wouldn't have known the difference between fine wine and grape juice."

Jung Kook curled his fingers around a shot glass and threw his head back, grimacing as the bitter alcohol slid down his throat. When the man spewed more filth about Jin, Jung Kook took four straight shots in succession. Anything to keep his mind occupied and shut out the annoying voice beside him. It was working because there was a humming in his head, and a pleasant buzz running through his body.

"He came to the university to look for you, you know. After you left. Manky piece of shit," the man said viciously as he reached for another mug of beer.

Jung Kook whipped his head around quickly to stare at the man, groaning as everything swirled in a kaleidoscope of bright colours. It took several moments before his surroundings stopped moving like a Waltzer, and he could focus on the man before him.

"Who? Who came to look for me?"

"Kim Seok Jin."

"What? When?!"

"Halfway through first semester. He was at the uni gates asking if anyone knew who you were, and if they could go get you. Gave me great pleasure to tell the loser to piss off to wherever he'd been hiding."

"You did what?!!" Jung Kook's fingers curled around the collar of the man's shirt.

"Told him to go back into whatever hole he crawled out of, and to never show his face around us again. Said none of us were interested in staying in touch with him. Took several shoves until he hit the ground before he got the hint and left. Never saw him after that so I guess he finally understood his place."

The man was so sloshed that he didn't realise Jung Kook had his collar in a death grip, his eyes flashing with barely restrained fury, his teeth bared like a caged feral beast.

"Did you ask where he'd been?! Where he was living?!"

"Why would I? He disrespected you by dumping you without explanation. Ungrateful slut," the man pulled away from Jung Kook to grab another beer. "I don't know what you ever saw in him when we were at school, JK. He was so secretive. Deceitful sneak, if you ask me."

Jung Kook sat in silence, his head spinning as he considered what he'd just learned. Jin had tried to look for him. But why didn't he call him? Even after Jung Kook had left the country, he had kept his mobile number for months. He had hoped that Jin would somehow resurface, and call him. Reveal where he'd been hiding and where he was. But Jin never did.

Jung Kook stood up and stumbled away from his friends. He needed to go outside and clear his head. He wished he hadn't guzzled all those shots now because it took away his ability to think straight.

He wanted answers but his brain was too sotted to think of the right questions to ask. As he made his way through the throng of sweaty, writhing bodies in the club, he could hear the man calling him back but he was too ticked off by the way he'd spoken about Jin to care.