𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

#.. TWENTY

"is that the place?" jungsu asked, confused as he, seungmin and hyeongjun arrived in front of the huge rusty building. no way this was a clinic.

skipping school to visit their friends couldn't get any more interesting. the house looked like it was abandoned, with the only difference that it wasn't.

do people even get better in there? or do they just turn more insane?

"doesn't look very... recovery-friendly?" seungmin joked, scoffing while watching how hyeongjun rang the bell.

he just shrugged, already having seen the design of the clinic. so he didn't really bother.

an elderly woman opened the door, narrowing her eyes. "you were here last week, weren't you?" she asked hyeongjun, still sceptical.

they were really cautious about their patients' safety and privacy. at least that..

hyeongjun nodded. "uh-huh. i'd like to meet lee jooyeon again. is that possible right now?"

the woman nodded, before looking back to the other two. "and you?" she eyed seungmin's burnt arm, silently judged jungsu's style, before faking a small smile as they spoke out the names of the patients they wanted to visit.

"they're in the yard. let me guide you there."

[...]

three silhouettes were seen sitting on a bench next to a small artificial meadow, staring onto the floor. would they be happy to see their friends?

hyeongjun surprised jooyeon with a back hug, hugging him tight, while seungmin scared gunil by tapping him with a loud "ba!" noise.

jungsu just stood next to them, not knowing what he was supposed to do with jiseok. ever since his obsession with gunil escalated, they lost the bond they once shared.

the three sitting on the bench turned around at the same time, two of them smiling happily and laughing as they huggeg their friend.

jiseok just looked at jungsu, tearing up as he turned to the side. "didn't think you'd want to see me like this" he spoke, his voice shaking.

but jiseok was the bestest friend he could imagine after all. sickness here or there, jiseok was still the same old him.

jungsu inched closer, kneeling down on the grass in front of the younger, as he pulled him into a hug.

"how can i continue living when i haven't seen my best friend for such a long time?" jiseok hated himself for how emotional he was.

one second he was feeling dead, like he could never experience emotions again. next second he was already pressing his body to jungsu's, sobbing into his neck like a small child.

hyeongjun noticed that once he and jooyeon parted, a sad smile on his lips. "he must be so overwhelmed" he whispered, lightly motioning his head towards gunil, to signalise that he was probably the reason jiseok was so tense.

and jooyeon nodded. "but it's not like it's his-" he motioned to gunil, who was deeply involved in a conversation with seungmin. "- fault either."

collectively they decided to walk around while just catching up. for example jooyeon and seungmin started to grow closer.

"i read the short story" seungmin told him. "it's amazing. you're such a talented writer, jooyeon. ever thought of publishing something?"

jooyeon just laughed, overwhelmed by the compliment, as he shook his head. "no, not really. it's more of a hobby for me."

hyeongjun and jungsu were walking behind them. "i never told you how pretty you are, right?" the elder asked, causing hyeongjun to gasp.

"what? no, i'm not!" his ears started turning red, what embarrassed him even more. jungsu thought of this as cute.

"your features are so unique. if jooyeon doesn't think the same, then i don't know."

hyeongjun told them about their crush on jooyeon. it was a little bit hard, scared that they might tell him.

but they didn't, promising to not tell anyone.

hyeongjun was sad they didn't tell him about their crushes, but it didn't take him long to realise that seungmin fancies jungsu.

and jungsu probably does the same. he might deny it, but it's too obvious that there is some type of interest.

jiseok and gunil were at the very back. though jungsu kept eyeing them, not wanting that jiseok hurts himself just by purely interacting with him.

so far jiseok seemed happy, it was just gunil who seemed slightly uncomfortable. he had to carry jiseok, as the younger wasn't allowed to walk as much.

he was supposed to focus on gaining a lot of weight as soon as possible, walks wouldn't really help.

though gunil wasn't supposed to stress his body that early, still not physically recovered from the overdose, he couldn't resist jiseok's happy smile.

though he fell out of love, it was still hard to say no to jiseok's adorable face.

seeing seungmin again absolutely shattered him. he had the desire to kiss him so bad but he knew he couldn't.

seungmin loved jungsu after all.

"i have to pee - bring me to the bathroom" jiseok ordered and gunil quickly alerted the other's about their new whereabouts.

walking there, jiseok braced himself on gunil's strong body, more than happy about this interaction.

he knew that gunil was the man for him. if marrying was a choice for a couple like them, he'd do it instantly.

arriving at the bathroom, he was put down again. like a small duckling being released into the lake.

"jiseok" gunil spoke, breathing in heavily as the small boy turned around again, just about to enter a stall.

yet he came closer to gunil again, slightly tilting his head. "what is it?"

there followed no verbal answer after this. gunil was just thinking. if kissing seungmin made me fall in love with him, maybe i can gain my feelings back...

he couldn't even finish his thought before cupping jiseok's cheeks in his hands, and pulling him closer for a kiss.

this surprised jiseok, letting out a small squeak, yet he quickly caught on, desperately pulling gunil closer to his body as he kissed back like his life depended on it.

gunil loved him. gunil loved him and that's why he wanted to kiss him.