Too Quiet ° Meanie °

5. The First Words

Friends. A thing that you don't necessarily need, but it is something that some people crave. Or maybe some people have pushy parents who just want 'the best' for their kids, suburban parents force play dates, so their special baby can grow up in the 'right crowd'. Or maybe the parents don't care at all and they never cared who their child became close to. Growing up I was lucky enough to just drift into certain friendships, like how I met Jihoon and Soonyoung when I was in middle school and they introduced me to Joshua, Seungcheol, and Jun. Then I met Vernon and DK the following year. Ever since then, I just made some acquaintances throughout the years, like Seungkwan, Minghao, and Jeonghan, who's the only person that talks to me in my senior math class.

I may have a smaller friend group than most, but I know that everyone that is in my little circle will always have my back and I hope they all know that I'll have theirs.

●●●

As I'm racing through the hallways, I accidentally run into a couple of people. "Sorry. Excuse me. Sorry. Sorry." I hope DK is already at lunch. I need to know more about this Jeon person.

Entering the crowded and noisy cafeteria, I slow down my pace so I can scout out where my friends decided to sit today. While I'm frantically looking for any signs of my group, someone calls for me.

"Yah! Mingyu! Over here!" Soonyoung yells across the large room, while waving one arm and unintentionally gathering attention from others. Then I see and hear a grumpy Jihoon sluggishly hit Soonyoung while complaining equally as loud. "Will you please stop yelling!" Soonyoung then replies, "You know, we've been together for three and a half years and you are still so harsh on me." Muttering the last part, he lightly rubs where Jihoon 'hit' him. As I near the table, I notice multiple students turn their heads towards me with a mixture of confused looks or giggling smirks. I bow my head in embarrassment and make my way through the crowd. Wow, for a couple, they sure do know how to make a scene.

●●●

Soonyoung and Jihoon have been together ever since freshmen year, honestly I don't even know how they've managed for this long. But I have seen some adorable moments shared between the odd couple. Soonyoung likes to spoil Jihoon and Jihoon is only a softy for Soonyoung. Everyone in the group actually has bets on when they are going to elope. When we're all out together, I watch the two interact sometimes. How they mindlessly intertwine fingers while walking or share quiet whispers and secret giggles. How Soonyoung strokes Jihoon hair when the latter is sleepy and when Soonyoung is upset Jihoon does everything in his power to make him feel better. Seeing all of their interactions and love fest makes me completely and undeniably jealous.

●●●

Today my friends chose one of the round tables in front of the large windowed walls that look out to the spacious courtyard.

As I sit down in one of the empty seats beside Vernon, I remember the returned note and begin to pull it out of my bag. "So do you guys know where DK is?" I say as I'm looking around the table, while still digging in my bag.

"I think he said something about having to talk to the principal about the fight that happened this morning." Jihoon lazily says while leaning on his boyfriend's shoulder and messing with the steamy noodles on his tray. Across the table, Jun and Seungcheol both nod their heads in agreement.

Letting out a sigh, I turn my head to Vernon who is starring off with a blank face. Wow, should I even give this back to him? He looks so out of it. I think to myself. I carefully begin to speak, "Hey man, I talked to Seungkwan today" his face comes back to life, with a small smile, as he turns his body to face me. I continue talking, "(He), um, actually wanted me to give you this." I finish while holding out the folded letter. He looks so happy at first, then he looks to my hand that holds the letter. My heart breaks a little as I watch his face fall into a confused frown. "Um, he thinks you, uh, actually left this on his desk on accident." The whole table is now silent and Vernon is just holding the paper quietly.