Reasons to Stay // Hyunin

~Final~

However long Jeongin had been sitting behind that bush, who knows. But his phone kept him entertained, and the sky was getting dusky. In fact, Jeongin was worried as hell when he heard the band playing distantly and assumed that by now, he'd missed the graduation.

Missed the graduation he had, as no "Yang Jeongin" came onto the stage when his name was called. Lee Know, Han, Changbin, and Chan, especially, were worried out of their minds. They glanced over at Yongbok, who seemed equally confused. With a past like Jeongin's, any little thing happening to Jeongin would send his overprotected hyungs into frenzy. "Jeongin—where's Jeongin?!" Han tugged at Lee Know's shoulder, the latter turning around with a how-should-I-know look.

The graduation process moved on, the four muttering among themselves at the predicament. Finally, Chan said that he'd go out and look around. Changbin would have gone too, if his parole would let him.

Chan exited the courtyard from the west gate to search around, the opposite of where Jeongin was at. Jeongin wondered if his hyungs were looking for him. Because of past situations, probably they were. He decided to stay put because somewhere, he'd read that if someone's looking for you, you should stay where you are, or things could get more complicated.

It was crazy how nobody had really walked around the area where Jeongin was hiding behind the bushes, and a relief to the boy. So when the sound of footsteps and the jingle of a bell approached, Jeongin's heart was seized with renewed fear. They're finally here to get me... his paranoid thoughts started up again.

He heard a small dog's panting, so the footsteps must be the dog owner. Jeongin panicked, knowing that if the dog were to pass by, he might sense Jeongin behind the bush. He didn't really have a good reason to be hiding there. "I was hiding from a gang." How reasonable would that sound?

"Kkami, you have to go?"

At the sound of the familiar voice, Jeongin's whole being froze up in terror. Hwang Hyunjin and his dog?! What worse luck.

Jeongin braced himself for the worst as the noises got closer and closer. "Here, Kkami," he heard the tall boy say as the dog and its owner stopped right at the bush where Jeongin was hiding. Jeongin hoped that Hyunjin's dog would just pee, get over with it, and leave. No such luck. The little dog began sniffing around the big bush and Jeongin knew that if he stayed where he was, he'd be caught in seconds. Not saying that he wouldn't be caught if he moved either.

"Come on, what's up with you," Hyunjin said softly to his dog as he pulled Kkami's leash a little to prevent it from getting further into the shrubs. "We need to go."

All of a sudden Kkami barked, and that was it for Jeongin. He immediately got up from his hiding spot and moved to the other side of the bush to avoid Hyunjin and the dog. The movement only made Kkami bark louder and more furiously, and Hyunjin would only naturally look around the tree to see what made his dog go crazy. "What in the- "

They made eye contact. Both boys froze, Hyunjin out of shock and Jeongin out of pure fear. The latter wished he could run but his feet seemed stuck to the ground. He stared at Hyunjin's face; it was just as beautiful as ever. Even if a thousand years passed with Jeongin never seeing Hyunjin, Jeongin couldn't ever deny that.

And as Hyunjin looked at Jeonginnie, he felt a sweet relief upon seeing that youthful cheeriness in Jeongin's face, not the tired one that he used to see everyday at school. Well Jeongin was doing fine. Why the hell was Hyunjin here?

Hyunjin looked away first, and politely said a "Sorry" before quickly turning away from Jeongin and trying to leave with poor Kkami, who hadn't done its business yet, so started whining but followed its owner obediently anyways. Before Jeongin could process what just happened, Hyunjin had started to pick up pace and walk even briskly down the sidewalk, hoping to get far, far away from the boy whose life he had made miserable. But-