To All The Boys I've Loved Before [NCT DREAM]

CHAPTER FOUR : The Difference Between Loving And Being In Love.

    BACK IN NINTH GRADE, Jeno once twisted his ankle mid-match and had to sit out the rest of the match season. The aspiring soccer player was upset about the whole ordeal and refused to leave his bedroom the day after that match. Haechan had gone to visit him, but Jeno refused to see anyone, even his best friend. With a fighting spirit, Haechan had used a ladder to climb up to Jeno's bedroom window in the middle of the night and endured a great shouting from Jeno once he'd let him into the room, the male warning Haechan about the risk of falling and breaking his bones. Haechan had simply pulled his best friend into a tight hug, assuring him everything would be okay. That night, Jeno had finally let his walls down. He silently sobbed into Haechan's shoulder, and Haechan held him. That night, Jeno knew Haechan was his best friend. After Jeno had cried himself to sleep, Haechan remained awake, still holding tightly onto the boy.

That night, Haechan knew Jeno was best friend.

Two weeks after that, Jeno got his first girlfriend. She was one of the smartest and prettiest girls in their class. Jeno spent about 90% of her time with her, and the remaining 10% he spent with Haechan, he was talking about her.

Haechan was heartbroken, to say the least, (boy felt like his world was falling apart), but he held a brave face and congratulated his best friend. He didn't understand what it was he didn't like about the girl. He just didn't like how she hovered around Jeno or how Jeno looked at her.

He'd concluded that maybe he was jealous that Jeno could get a girlfriend and he couldn't.

Three months down the line, a few weeks before Christmas, Jeno showed up to Haechan's house, and it was evident by the puffiness under his eyes that he had been crying.

The girl had moved to China, and she didn't tell Jeno. That night, Jeno lay in Haechan's arms with tears in his eyes, and Haechan took his time to wipe the male's tears off before placing baby kisses all over his face to help calm him.

That night, Jeno knew he loved Haechan.

That night, Haechan knew he was in love with Jeno.

Every moment after that, building up to the present day: it wasn't a mistake. Or at least it wasn't to Haechan. He couldn't say the same for Jeno.

The blonde's words had carved themselves into the walls of his head by now. They'd been in a freaking three hour loop in his head. No matter how much he tried to distract himself from what had occurred, he couldn't.

It was a mistake.

Haechan let out an irritated groan as he sat in his bed. Yes, his bed. After the whole ordeal, the male had retreated to the room he hated and had tried his best to distract himself to prevent himself from going insane. In the past three hours, he'd gone out to a nearby convenience store to get groceries, which were mostly things he didn't even know how to cook, but he bought them because his father told him she'd kill him if he ate Ramen noodles 24/7. After buying a few basic vegetables, meats, drinks, and all his desired snacks, he'd retreated back to his dorm and packed away the foods.

The trip to the convenience store and back had only taken him 20 minutes. Once he was in the dorm again, he felt as if he was going insane again. And he definitely couldn't explore the city yet. He wasn't in the right state of mind to do so. He'd probably get lost and have two bad things happen to him on one day.

Luckily, while he was trying to figure out what to do next, he received a call from one of his favorite people besides Jeno. Johnny, his much older cousin. Despite the age gap and distance between them, they'd managed to have a strong relationship. Johnny called to ask him about his first day, and Haechan sang like a canary. He narrated everything that had happened to his hyung, who was visibly shocked by the news. The call had lasted for about an hour, as Johnny was trying to come up with ways Haechan could fix the situation, but none of them would work. The older boy then suggested, as a joke, that Haechan get soju and drink his problems away.

Was he underage?

Yes.

But did he have a fake ID?

Yes. Don't ask how or why.

Just know Johnny had something to do with it.

After the call, Haechan thought about it long and hard, and he concluded that it was time he finally used the fake ID his wildcard of a hyung had gifted him. So he left his dorm again, this time to a convenience store further from the university. Nervously, he bought a six-pack of the Korean beer, thinking he'd get caught, but the cashier seemed to tired to give a fuck and simply collected money from him without asking for his ID.

The soju tasted terrible to say the least. But he needed to be distracted, so he drank on. One drink turned to two. Two drinks lead to him finishing the whole six-pack. It was his first time drinking, so of course he was absolutely wasted by his third drink but because he remembered what Johnny said : "As long as you can remember what caused you to drink, you're not drunk enough," he drank on until he was a giggling mess on his bedroom floor.

What Johnny had failed to tell Haechan was that people usually tend to take really dumb decisions when they're drunk. Especially when it's their first time drinking.

With one glance at one of the boxes he hadn't unpacked - the most important of the boxes - Haechan got an idea.

It's an idea he found so hilarious at the time, but sober him would definitely regret it the next morning.