Everything Will Be Okay

Yuma slapped his palm against the back of Jo’s head, causing the ice cream in his hand to smear against his face as his head bopped down from the force.

“Hey!” snarled Jo, reaching over to nudge Yuma’s shoulder.

Despite having his eyes closed from the mound of cream that lathered his face, Jo still successfully caught a fleeting Yuma.

He extended his free hand, sticky from melted ice cream, to mercilessly nudge his best friend's shoulder, in retaliation for his act. Though he never used much force.

“Ouch” chuckled Yuma, rubbing his sore shoulder.

“Why’d you have to do that!? I was really looking forward to eating that ice cream!” scowled Jo, glancing down disappointedly at his now empty comb.

Yuma noticed the slight change in Jo’s facials, the small pout forming on his lips and the gleam in his eyes despite his best efforts to appear furious. A smirk stretched over Yuma’s lips “What? Are you gonna cry?”.

Jo’s brows immediately lamented into a frown “No! I just got some cream in my eyes” he sputtered, though his voice came out a dry croak.

“Don’t be such a douchebag, Yuma” quipped Euijoo, turning to hand Jo a napkin.

Nicholas wrapped an arm around Yuma’s shoulders, trying to hold in his laugh “Come on, you know Jo’s a sensitive person”, there was a hint of teasing prominent in his tone.

“I know!” Yuma broke into a fit of shameless laughter, he wasted no chance to tease Jo. Hearing Yuma’s hysterical laughter only provoked Nicholas to let out his own.

“That just makes it funner” snickered Yuma.

“Oh, you bullies” snorted Euijoo, rolling his eyes. He grabbed a clean napkin to wipe away the sticky ice cream that lathered on Jo’s face, scrubbing his soft skin until it visibly removed most of the substance.

It was the end of the school day. The four had gathered around the entrance of the school like they had every day.

A vivid splash of orange bled into the blue sky as the sun disappeared into the horizon, creating a warm golden atmosphere.

Euijoo looked up at the bleeding orange sky. “Enough teasing. Where do you guys wanna hang out?” he chirped, excited about finally being able to escape school.

Nicholas’s grinning face stiffened, and he let out a nervous chortle “Um, sorry guys…I have a shift today”

Yuma let out an audibly annoyed sigh “Seriously? Again Nicholas?”

Nicholas scratched the back of his nape, chuckling nervously “Yeah..”

“Seriously babe? When was the last time we hung out that wasn’t during the weekends?” queried Euijoo, crossing his arms, “Just skip for today!” he beamed, grabbing Nicholas’s arm, a hopeful gleam visible in his eyes.

Nicholas contained the strained smile on his face “Sorry, I can’t..”

“What a bore” pestered Yuma, slightly nudging Nicholas’s shoulder with his own.

“Whatever, we’ll just go out without you, since your shifts seem to be the most important thing to you..” continued Yuma, crossing his arms across his chest sternly.

Nicholas lowered his gaze to the ground “It’s not like that..” he whispered listlessly.

Behind them, a gland of sweat trickled down Jo’s forehead.

“Let’s go then, bye Nicholas” muttered Euijoo, disappointment evident in his voice. He grabbed Nicholas's cheeks with one hand, feeling warmth radiating from it, before leaning in to place a swift kiss on his lips.