the photograph // sunsun

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sunoo smiled as he looked at the picture. it was a golden opportunity for him to grab some cash since he lost his job. he would also get back at sunghoon for acting cold with him at the party. it all aligned perfectly. 

"why are you smiling?" heeseung snapped. 

sunoo cleared his throat, replacing his expression with a serious one.

"you can't tell anyone about this, heeseung. i'm deleting the photo from your phone," sunoo stated before sending the picture and sunghoon's number to his phone, followed by deleting the photo from heeseung's.

heeseung nodded, not noticing what sunoo did earlier. "i am not going to tell sunghoon. he will lose his mind if he finds out about this."

sunoo shook his head. "that would be such a shame."

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sunoo got to his apartment quickly after talking with heeseung. as soon as he entered, he got a phone call. after checking the number, he tossed the phone on his bed, not answering it. 

but the ringing hadn't stopped. it continued for some long minutes. so he dragged his feet across the room to snatch it from his bed.

"what, mom?"

"hello, sunoo. i'm just checking up on you," he heard a soft tone from the other end. sunoo could already see his mom's gentle smile and her squinted eyes.

he hated it.

he hated how she pretended to care about him, but never really listened to him. he hated how she treated him like a child, but never praised him for his achievements. he hated how she acted like she knew what was best for him, but never respected his choices.

"i'm doing good. anything else?"

"do you need me to send you some money? if you ask my opinion, i think you should quit your job."

she wanted him to be happy, but only in the way she imagined. she wanted him to be free, but only within the limits she set. she wanted him to be himself, but only if he fit her expectations.

sunoo already wanted to hang up. he knew exactly where this conversation was going. "i didn't ask your opin-"

"really, sunoo. you should have fun and not worry about all these things. your dad and i will buy you a nice apartment near your campus. you should stop acting like this." her tone was urging. sunoo thought that she was talking more to herself than to him.

"mom..."

"what kind of kid rejects money from their parents? also, you got a job at a convenience store, right? are they even paying you well?"

sunoo sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "i'm getting enough. i don't need anything from you..."

"interesting, really. just know that if you need anything, we are right here."

sunoo kept silent for a while, contemplating his next question.

"don't you want to know about how i'm doing in university? you've never asked me about it."

his mother chuckled. "it's okay if you're not that good at studying. it doesn't really matter to us."

sunoo felt a pang of hurt in his chest. she didn't care about his grades or his courses or his future. she didn't care about his hard work or his efforts or his struggles.

sunoo frowned. "alright, i'm hanging up."

he threw himself on the bed and groaned in frustration after ending the phone call. "but i am good at it."

even though he hated sunghoon's attitude, sunoo couldn't help but see himself in the other. sunghoon was trying to be perfect in front of his peers, while sunoo was trying to be the best at everything in front of his parents.

but only one of them got the recognition for it.

he felt inferior.

now, no matter the method, he wanted to prove to his parents that he could live by himself, without their help.

he tapped sunghoon's number, and stared at it for a few seconds. he didn't think much before sending the photo to the latter. right after, he typed a short text.

'sending this to the whole campus'

he didn't have to wait for too long.

'who are you?'

'where did you get that?'

'who's the other person?'

'please don't send it.'

'let's talk.'

sunoo was amused by the number of messages he was getting from sunghoon. he enjoyed seeing the other so desperate, remembering sunghoon's facade just one day before. he was holding the gears now.

'2 million won per month and i'm not sending it to anyone. try and tell anyone about this– the deal's broken. try and do some funny stuff to find out who i am– the deal's broken. i'll find out everything. '

'2 million? for how long?'

sunoo thought for a while. requesting a long period of time might become risky.

'until the end of the semester.'

that was about three months. during this period, sunoo can search for a new job. it was good enough.

sunoo noticed that sunghoon read the message but he wasn't replying. several minutes passed and he was starting to get impatient and a little anxious.

what if sunghoon contacted the authorities? what if he already knew it was sunoo? what if he's asking heeseung about the photo? did heeseung say he took the photo? sunoo couldn't remember clearly. but that didn't matter.

'ok.'

sunoo raised his eyebrows in surprise. that was easy. that was too easy.

he thought that sunghoon might be loaded. sunoo already regretted not agreeing for a higher sum.

he sent his account information.

after a few moments, he checked his bank account and noticed some extra two million won there.

'spend it well.'

sunoo scoffed. why did sunghoon seem so arrogant in that last mesage? he shouldn't act that way. sunoo should be the superior one. but somehow, he felt smaller and more insignificant after receiving that text.

he smashed his phone to the ground.

"i hate him."

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