heartbreak hotline || sunsun

xix.

"i mean you saw me and acted like you were getting robbed so yeah, pretty noticeable"

thinking back, this was the first time sunoo had heard sunghoon's laugh. actually, he'd never seen him smile at all.

"sorry about that, it's just been constant freaking out these days" he admitted, another stiffened chuckle escaping his lips.

though he'd talked to sunghoon a dozen times over the phone, seeing him become somewhat vulnerable in person was a shocker for the blond boy.

maybe it was the way his bottom lip would quiver with each word, or the little wrinkles that underlined his tired eyes. whatever it was, sunoo felt the need to dig into him a little more.

"what's been bugging you?" he asked, feeling immediately embarrassed over how nosy he sounded.

he didn't think sunghoon would reply though, after all, they were merely strangers in the real world.

"just wondering, what are you supposed to do when you don't have feelings for someone, but you feel shitty about them moving on so quickly?" he asked quietly, eyes glued to the pavement beneath him.

"well uh..." the younger mumbled, "i don't think there's a right answer for that honestly"

"maybe i'm just being an ass, but it really sucks to know that my ex's new boyfriend is here tonight, y'know?"

"so wonyoung was right?"

"pardon?"

"god i'm so sorry, it's just that wonyoung mentions you a lot and she wont quit talking about jay and this new guy he's dating and i really didn't mean to—"

a warm smile on the older's face quickly silenced sunoo, not knowing wether he should be scared or relieved by that reaction.

"why are you smiling?" he giggled awkwardly.

"your whole face just turned red, it's funny"

the pair exchanged sweet grins, followed by a
soft gasp from the younger when he felt his phone buzzing inside his jacket.

he takes it out to see a message from wonyoung that reads 'game is starting early wru????' with the last bit written in all caps. sunoo rolls his eyes at the interruption, tossing his phone back into his pocket.

the little ambiance he'd created with sunghoon was long gone, sure all they did was smile at each other, but he thought it was a good start for now. "i should get going, the game's starting already"

"i should get back inside too, a friend of mine made me promise that i'd watch him play" sunghoon chuckles.

an idea pops into sunoo's head as he watches the older get up from the floor, "maybe we can go in together?"

"i believe we could" he replies with an accent, making sunoo giggle.

the pair heads back to the gym without saying a word, the smiles on their faces being enough proof of the comfort they felt around each other.

the silence breaks as they reach the gym door and bid their goodbyes, walking in opposite directions while wonyoung stood by the snack bar looking like she was about to smash a pair of tongs against sunoo's head.

"so... i found him, yaaay" sunoo smiles awkwardly, taking place beside her and placing drinks on the large tray to go and offer them to the audience.

"kim sunoo you were gone for nearly 45 minutes! do you know how many daein pricks i had to deal with on my own?"

"i'm sorry jjang, i can watch the snack bar on my own for the rest of the night if you'd like"

his offer worked, seeing how wonyoung's face changed immediately and she was back to her happy-go-lucky self.

"i'd actually love that" she smiles, "but before i leave, you see that boy in the daein team with the round head?"

wonyoung pointed at a guy with feline eyes who wore a black, long sleeved compression shirt under his uniform that accentuated his lean yet strong arms.

"yang... jung-won?" sunoo squints reading the name written on the back of the boy's jersey, completely forgetting about the drinks he was supposed to serve.

"you know how i told you sunghoon's been kind of weird since he broke up with jay? well, i may or may not have overheard a conversation saying this jungwon kid is jay's new boyfriend. kinda weird right? i mean, they'll be playing against each other all season, but maybe they're into that rivals turned lovers type of thing"

truth is sunoo had stopped paying attention after the "boyfriend" part, his head overflowing with theories and ideas about the whole ordeal without being able to grasp a single coherent thought.

having confirmed that jay was completely out of his way, and the fact that he actually talked with sunghoon for the first time in years, sunoo felt like he might actually have a shot with his childhood crush for once.