𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐂𝐊 | hvc

𝙭𝙭𝙞𝙭.

𝘅𝘅𝗶𝘅. 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝘁?
( 𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶'𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘃 )

"You said you had something to ask me right?"

"Oh, yeah um..." Twiddling my fingers seemed to be the only way to relieve the stress that filled my mind. It wasn't so much so the fact that I was scared of confrontation because I'm not, but because Jeonghan was unpredictable. Not being able to guess any bit of his emotions through his eyes, voice, or actions proved to be inherently stressful.

He raised his eyebrow, continuing to keep his eyes on the road. Jeonghan has always had a leisurely sense to him, however, some part of me felt as if that was anything but the truth.

The mere taping on the steering wheel told me all I needed to know; Jeonghan was nervous too, did he know where this conversation was going to lead? And if so, then why was he so on edge, yet pretending to not be?

"When I talked with Hansol outside, he uh, told me you were all in a group together." For some reason, I chose to leave it at that. If anything, Jeonghan's reaction would give me any indicators of how to continue.

To my surprise, he only remained silent as he continued to carefully maneuver the car. He seemed calm, almost calmer than before I had asked the question. It confused me, but that would be a feeling I would have to store for later.

As I began to speak, my palms grew sweaty with thoughts of how the boy on my left would react.

In an attempt to ease myself, I turned my focus to the view of the city through my window.

"Why did you lie? You knew who Hansol was to me and still you forced a reunion. Why?" As I continued to speak, my passion for the topic grew stronger. I hadn't even taken a moment to think about the party last year, but as if through a transmission, the memory had come to mind.

I sat up, bravely looking directly at Jeonghan "Actually...you probably knew who I was at the- at the party." The words had drifted from a confrontation to instead self-realization. It almost felt like some sort of K-drama betrayal, but it was real nonetheless.

He sighed. That was all the reaction I got yet somehow, that was enough of an answer.

"So you did."

As if the moment of the conversation was fleeting, Jeonghan swerved the car almost psychotically before parking next to a random curb. Despite the liveliness of Seoul at 11:30 pm, this certain street seemed ghosted. That's convenient...I guess?

Seeming to not care about his horrendous parking job, the idol turned to look at me. His eyes held guilt though his overall posture radiated confidence.

"I did know." Was all he said. Three simple words that held so much. Was every interaction we had built toward his underlying motivations? If so, what were they?

"However..." He looked around as if preparing to betray his pride. From that one night, I'd already known that Jeonghan wasn't someone who enjoyed getting "caught". Regardless, I was assured by others that he never had any bad intentions either. Silently, I hoped it would be the same this time.

He smiled. "You and Hansol cleared things up right?"

"I mean..you could say that?" Jeonghan immediately smiled for a few moments and eventually turned yet again to look at me. There was only warmth in his eyes, a strong contrast from the image he usually gave off.

"Then my job is done!" He exclaimed, his eyes turning into half-circles as he smiled. The difference in our emotions made me want to scream.

"I- what."

Jeonghan laughed, almost the most genuine I had ever heard from him. "Sorry for the confusion, but I could see from both your and Hansol's perspectives that the conflict between you wasn't doing any good. I figured that since promotions had been going slow last year I would see what I could do. Us meeting again was purely coincidental, as well as me being chosen for your project. But I genuinely enjoy being your friend, if you would consider us that close. I just figured that this would be a perfect chance to fix the relationship of two people who I think need each other."

In the tense environment of the moment, all my clouded brain could muster up was, "You uh...seem like you've had to make a lot of explanations before."

The two of us immediately burst into chuckling, or at least, the strongest laugh our sleep-deprived selves could give. Something about the situation seemed much funnier in my deliriousness from the day's events. Was this...THIS what I'd spent days, nights, and weeks pondering about?

"My methods aren't always the most foolproof you could say." He said through laughs and all I could do was replicate his infectious energy through a few giggles.

"Sorry, I just...I dunno, thought you had like a masterplan or something."

"Nope, just boredom." Well that answered a majority of my questions.

I looked outside briefly before turning back. "Can we still be friends?" He asked and some part of my heart melted. I was struggling to believe that I thought anything negative of him before.

"It'll take me a while to get over this you know?"

"I'm sure. Take as long as you need I- like, guess this is all kinda my fault."

I cracked a smile. "You guess?