Artificial Water

Chapter 26🥀

Jongin

"And that's that," Chanyeol finished as he put the glass down with a loud thud. He had once again invited himself over to my place to hang out, drink the beer out of my fridge and tell me some stories he heard at work. I hadn't listened to half of the words that had come out of his mouth and missed the clue completely. Chanyeol, to my relief, didn't seem to notice it.

"Where's the little fluffball?" He asked, looking around as if he expected someone else to be in the same room.

"You mean Kyungsoo?" I tried not to sound annoyed by Chanyeol mentioning his name and succeeded. "He's in my bedroom to study for a test."

It was true. Kyungsoo had taken his school bag into my room and said he wanted to learn in silence, but I didn't believe him. He didn't know about Chanyeol's visit so he could have easily taken a seat at the kitchen table, not to mention the fact my room didn't have a desk and Soo told me he didn't like to write on a surface that wasn't smooth. 

"Oh," Chanyeol failed to keep the disappointment out of his voice. Or maybe he just didn't care if I heard it or not. "That's good." 

I nodded, not really sure what to say to make this conversation going. "It is." Our last encounter had made it difficult to act like we used to. It was like a distance had appeared and we both knew it but didn't took the effort to take it away. It was painful in a way that made me question our friendship and it made me feel bad. 

"Everything's good between the two of you again?" He tore his gaze away from me to lift the glass again. He sounded genuinely interested and not just curious.

"Yeah, I think so." I wanted to tell him we were more than good but something made me swallow the words. Kyungsoo had told Chanyeol I kissed him that night and telling him about how things were now didn't feel like the right thing to do. I flashed him a smile and he tipped the glass to get the last bit of beer in his mouth.

"I think I'll go home now. I have some things to do. I'll come again another time." Chanyeol stood up and straightened the wrinkles in his trousers. "If you want." He added.

That last part stung and I stood up. "What makes you think I might not want to see you?" 

"You don't react the way you used to." His eyes wandered around the room, obviously trying to avoid eye contact with me. "Can't you see it?" 

"See what?" 

"That it's not the same anymore!" Chanyeol seemed surprised by his own loud voice as he grimaced. "Ever since he came, you don't have time for me and if you do, you look like you are annoyed at me or sulking about who knows what. You didn't even mention he was gonna stay with you and you accused me of taking advantage of him. What kind of friendship is that?" He finally looked me in the eyes. "I will tell you." He took a step closer and pointed at the floor. "One that's going down."

I blinked in surprise at his sudden outburst. Chanyeol was someone that tried to tell the truth, but often found himself stuck with wanting everyone to like him. He thought giving an honest opinion wasn't helpful when you tried to make friends. "I... am so sorry," I ended up saying after thinking about multiple replies. "For making you feel like I don't want you around me. I really am." 

Chanyeol sighed and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I feel left out," he admitted, his voice softer than I had ever heard him talk. 

"I didn't tell myself he was gonna stay with me either," I joked, trying to lighten the mood. "I really told you the truth when I said we weren't together, but-"  

"I know that," Chanyeol interrupted me. "But now you are, congratulations. I just didn't expect you to invite a friend I've never seen to live with you." 

"We didn't even know each other, besides, why are you so bitter about it?" I crossed my arms and looked at him with a challenging expression. "We are off topic here. I thought we were discussing the problem." 

"We are, Jongin. Kyungsoo is the problem." 

My jaw dropped in surprise as I heard those words. "You have no idea," I started but changed my mind about telling him about Kyungsoo's personal life. "Get out of my house." 

Chanyeol dropped his arms at his sides. "What?" he asked in disbelief, even though I was sure he had heard me. 

"I said, get out." I repeated, feeling bad again, but for a different reason this time. "You can't call him a problem, not when I'm near." 

"It's not like that," Chanyeol protested. "It's not his fault he is the problem." 

"How dare you?" I felt anger boiling up inside of me and clenched my fists. "Get out. I'm not gonna repeat myself."

Chanyeol's surprised expression turned into a frown. "Fine. I'll leave." He headed out of the apartment and slammed the door shut, leaving me staring at the spot he had stood a few moments ago.

"Jongin?" 

I turned around and saw Kyungsoo standing in the doorway, his hand against the frame like he was holding himself up. His face was pale, accentuating the bags under his eyes as he bit his lip. He looked like he would fall to the ground if he wasn't supporting himself. "Are you okay?" I rushed over to his side but he raised his hand. 

"I'm fine," he assured me. "Chanyeol left already, I see."

I nodded and looked past him into the bedroom. There were a few open books spread out onto the bed and a notebook next to it with a pen on top. It looked like he really had been studying. "He said he had some things to do."

"Don't lie to me," Kyungsoo pushed himself away from the door and stood in front of me. "I heard everything and I am sorry." 

"For?" I asked, not understanding his apology.

"For creating a wall between you and Chanyeol. He's right. I am the problem here, Jongin." His eyes filled with unshed tears and he blinked them away. "I am such a wreck and it's unfair." 

"No you are not." I wrapped my arms around him and held him close to my chest. "It's not your fault, nor was Chanyeol right. When a person let other people create a problem, doesn't make it his fault. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"If it wasn't for me-" Kyungsoo started, but immediately stopped talking as the doorbell rang and froze. "Who could that be?" 

"I'm gonna check, okay?" I let him go and walked over to the door, peeking through the small pane of glass and breathed out the air I had held as I recognised the familiar face. "It's Hayoon." 

"Jongin, I need to talk to you," she spoke in an urgent tone as I let her in. Her hair was messy from the strong wind outside and her cheeks were tinged pink. "I am pregnant."