angel baby || seongjoong

heartbreak

“I… I love you.” Hongjoong stared deep into Seonghwa’s eyes, his dark brown eyes carrying all his emotions.

Those very words. Seonghwa hadn’t heard them in a while, and neither did he want to. Those were the very words that Yujin had told him countless times.

Those words could mean the world to some people. But it could carry trauma for some. And Seonghwa was part of the latter. Those words weren’t romantic, in fact, nothing about this was romantic to him. It was just another painful reminder of his ex.

He didn’t believe in love. Not after what had happened. Who would?

Growing up, the books that he had read, the stories that he had heard, and the movies that he had watched, all showcased love at its finest. The lead always got her happy ending, her forever. To his innocent opinion about love, the reality hit much harder than anything.

He had given up on forever a long time ago. Nothing could make him think otherwise anymore. The pain from that time was unbearable, and it took him so long to heal. Even until now, the wound was still open, and the scars evident. He did not want to go through it again.

He couldn’t. He mustn't.

“I-I… I’m sorry, Hongjoong, but I can’t. I-I’m sorry, so sorry.”Seonghwa shot up from the bench, backing away from Hongjoong.

The younger looked at him, confusion written across his face. “Seonghwa? What’s wrong?” He asked, his voice laced with worry and concern, the softest and gentlest Seonghwa had ever heard.

“I-I can’t. I’m sorry, Hongjoong.” Seonghwa repeated, balling his hands into fists to try and stop them from shaking.

“Seonghwa, I… I don’t understand…?”

“I’m sorry, Hongjoong, but I just can’t.” Seonghwa said, his heart speeding up. “You’re an amazing guy, so kind and funny. You can do so much better than me. Please don’t stay hung up on me, please. Go find someone who’s actually worthy of you, someone who isn’t broken, like me.”

With that, Seonghwa grabbed his bag and ran off, sprinting into the distance. Hongjoong noticed his keychain on the bench, seemingly having fallen off his bag and picked it up, holding it securely in his palm. He sighed as he watched Seonghwa slowly disappear into the distance, gripping the keychain tightly.

His hands found his phone and managed to open it, going to press the call button. He sandwiched his phone between his ear and shoulder, leaving his hands free to play with the keychain.

The keychain Seonghwa had left behind was a pink rabbit, a small stuffed toy with a chain on top of it. It was the size of his palm, not too big, and its fur was the softest thing Hongjoong had ever felt. Pressing it against his heart, he was determined to keep it safe until he had a chance to return it to Seonghwa.

“Hyung?” A voice came from his phone, startling Hongjoong out of his daze. He pulled his phone from in between his ear and shoulder and held it with one hand, the other still playing with the ear of the rabbit keychain.

“Wooyoung… I need your help, please.” Hongjoong pleaded, his voice ready to break at any moment.

On the other side of the phone, Wooyoung, who knew that Hongjoong never cried nor sounded so helpless like this ever, was frightened by it. “On my way. Meet at your house.” He said without any hesitation, already pulling his socks on.

Seonghwa ran as fast as his legs would let him, practically flying as he took big strides, desperate to get away. He wasn’t even sure if he had made the decision to run away or was it his instincts. For all he knew, it could be his fight or flight instincts taking over at the sound of that word.