"¡callarse la boca! - hazme." pt2

Sunoo X Enhypen: Gawi Bawi Bo!

Sunoo gawks at his outstretched palm, face crumpling in devastation. Loud laughs and celebratory whoops crash around him. He shakes his head in disbelief until it takes over his whole body, trembling like a minor earthquake.

“No fair! I just got here!” His face slips into a particularly heart-wrenching pout.

Before Jay can fold, Jungwon jumps in. “Sorry hyungie, you lost! Now get going! You still have your rain coat on anyway.”

Sunoo stomps his foot in a mini-tantrum, still hoping his pout can make his argument. Jay scratches his arm, a telltale sign he’s about to give in and just volunteer in his place. Jake and Sunghoon intervene by putting him into a double headlock.

Jungwon’s hands curl around Sunoo’s shoulders, urging him toward the door with a flinty grin. “You know our orders! Don’t take too long. Miss you already!”

With that, Sunoo is back out in the rain, huffing along to the convenience store.

While his friends await his return in the dry warmth of the apartment, Riki speaks first. “Sunoo hyungie’s impressively bad at kai bai bo, huh? It’s gotta be a skill at this point.”

🪨📄✂️

One unseasonably warm April afternoon, Sunoo is frowning at his book, trying not to sulk as he sprawls out on a picnic blanket under a verdant maple tree. The quad is packed with other students chattering loudly in their circles and admiring the cherry blossom petals fluttering across the green. As beautiful as the scenery is, Sunoo would rather be inside the newly renovated, air conditioned student union building.

He just lost yet another round of kai bai bo to Riki and Jake, who are now running around the grassy center, chasing after a ball. They’re waiting for Jay and Heeseung’s lecture to end so they can all pile into Jake’s barely running station wagon for Taco Tuesday at the Mexican-Korean place Jungwon started working at last semester.

Sunoo has his book open, but he keeps getting distracted by the sunlight filtering through the leaves, and the flashes of glistening skin when Jake lifts his arms just so or when Riki’s unbuttoned flannel shirt slips off his shoulder. After a few lines, his book slowly sinks to its resting place on his chest and his eyes drift over to his two friends.

They’re bickering, as usual, until Jake just picks up the ball and runs towards the sloped area of the quad. Riki manages to tackle him down. They’re clutching their stomachs as they laugh with their entire bodies — Sunoo can’t help but smile. When Jake stands up again, he lifts the bottom of his shirt to flap some air onto his stomach, revealing a line of toned muscles and a trail of sweat disappearing into his shorts. Sunoo quickly hides his face in his book.

When he thinks it’s safe again, Sunoo peers over the top. He startles when he finds Riki and Jake standing right in front of him, peering down as they catch their breaths.

“Come join us!” Jake smiles widely, shaggy hair sticking up all over the place.

“Or at least watch me beat Jake in a juggling contest.” Riki heads the ball once, twice, before catching it in his arms again.

Sunoo points at his book. “Sorry, I have class reading to catch up on.”

Jake narrows his eyes. “Is it one of those sexy books? Why’re you so red?”

Sunoo huffs and buries his face again. He’s just starting his assigned reading, E.M. Forster’s “Maurice,” but he’s not sure he’s going to finish the chapters he needs to for tomorrow’s class. Maybe he’ll just check out the Hugh Grant movie version.

When they run off again, Sunoo decides he needs a sugary pick-me-up and takes out the lollipop he snagged from the registrar’s office. His stomach’s already grumbling at the thought of the pork shoulder tacos he usually orders. He rolls the strawberry-flavored candy around in his mouth, biting and sucking absentmindedly.